Time Flies!

Wow, November 11.  Go figure.  I got a little note from Merry Mom asking how I’d been and realized I hadn’t posted in TWO MONTHS.  YIKES.  I guess I’m due for an update!

All is well here.  BUSY.  Like, crazy busy.  As usual.

So, the big news is I survived my organization of information class.  I really had a VERY hard time with it.  I felt stupid the whole semester and was so glad it was my only class.  I somehow managed to get an A, and when I tell you it was a miracle and in no small part due to my partners in the small group project, I am not lying.  Not even a little bit.  I had a lot of help from our local friends too, who attempted to teach me XML and database building, and thanks to my husband who took lots of time off so I could get caught up and get homework done and whatnot.

I am registered for 2 classes this semester:  Ethics for Library and Information Professionals and Introduction to Archives.  I’m excited about it, neither class seems too hard core and both seem interesting, more importantly.  Classes start Wednesday.  I’ve gotten a volunteer job at a local archives, so I should get some hands on learning, which should help with a paper I have to write for the archives class!  I hope the archives class and volunteer experience helps me decide once and for all if that’s the direction I want to go in.

AFS kept me busy.  There were some problems with Kristin and her new family and their other student, so I wound up doing an intervention, which is not really what I think I’m good at, but I did it and got the family to stay together for a little so I was proud of that accomplishment.

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun.  We did the Turkey Trot in the morning—my goal was to do it in less than an hour and I accomplished that goal, which made me happy.  My dad was here and made the turkey, but we were all tired from walking and running so I can’t say as we did very much.  We had a little birthday party for my niece that weekend, and I really can’t believe she turned 3.  The time is just flying by!

December was a whirlwind!  Emily and I went to see Diane Keaton in November and decided to go back and see Michael Ian Black on December 1.  He was HILARIOUS—we were at 6th and I Synagogue and he started a joke that mentioned Anne Frank (it wasn’t a joke about Anne Frank) and he looked up at the stained glass window waiting for lightning to strike and said, “Well, if it’s gonna happen, it’s gonna happen now!” and everyone was just laughing hysterically.  It’s the second time I’ve seen him, the first time doing a solo act, and he was really great.

We took Kristin and fellow student Ilaria to Wolf Trap for the annual holiday sing-a-long and for pizza afterwards.  They had a lot of fun and I enjoyed having them along for the tradition.  The following weekend we spent some time at my sister’s and then went to our friends Paul and Kris’s house and church for their annual Christmas pageant and dinner.  It was really lovely, and wouldn’t seem like Christmas if we didn’t go.

Unfortunately, I was in a minor car accident the following week, and my car was in the shop until after Christmas.  I was driving to meet some friends for dinner and a kitten ran in the road.  I stopped and the person coming towards me stopped, but the guy behind me didn’t stop and hit me.  At first glance, it didn’t look so bad, but ultimately cost Allstate somewhere in the neighborhood of $6000 when all was said and done.  They did give me a rental, and I was pleased about that since I put almost 800 miles on it in just over a week’s time.

The following weekend was my Christmas concert.  This is my second year with the Stafford Regional Choral Society and in November I was elected to the board of directors.  I really thought that this Christmas concert would be the best concert I’d ever sung in, and I dare say I was correct.  I did a lot of rehearsing at home with the on line tracks, and managed to sing without my music, which made me happy since I didn’t have to lug a bunch of books around!  The choir chairman was nice enough to give me rides to rehearsals and the concert since my car was out of commission and I hadn’t gotten my rental yet.

The following day, Monday, my dad and his girlfriend decided to make a big turkey pre-Christmas dinner, and since I was still eating turkey from Thanksgiving, I decided to go ahead and invite some people over.  We had about 15 people who came to eat turkey and still had plenty of leftovers!  Leah had a ball.  Our neighbors came and brought her gifts and some other friends came and brought us fresh eggs from their chickens.  It was great!

Tuesday, for their first Christmas present, I took Dad and Linda to see ICE! at the Gaylord National Resort.  Mike’s and my theme for Christmas this year was cherishing old memories and making new ones.  To that end, we made a conscious decision not to buy “stuff” that people wouldn’t want or wear, and instead to either make things or make memories.  A few years ago, we bought tickets for the whole family to go see ICE! but couldn’t afford it this year, so I just took Dad and Linda (Leah got in free).  We had lunch with my sister beforehand and then went to the show, which was really lovely—it had a Madagascar theme, which didn’t mean much to the rest of us, but I enjoyed it anyway.  It was a really nice afternoon.  Midway through, I got a text from my mom that she was coming up early, so I prepared myself for her arrival as well!

Wednesday, Mom came and Mike and I went down to Richmond to pick up Penny’s brother Mickey at the airport.  He is in boarding school out in Kentucky (Or Cuh-cucky as Leah calls it) and needed a place to go when the school closed for 2 weeks for Christmas.  He took one look at us when he saw us at the gate and kept on walking and when I stopped him to ask if he was Mickey, he said he had to get his bags and took off to the baggage claim.  That was essentially the high point of his visit.  He was a rude little bugger. 

Thursday, Mom came back to our house to stay for a week plus.  She and my sister started arguing and at this point I can’t say who’s wrong or who’s right, I just really wish it hadn’t happened.  My goal for this Christmas was for everyone to get along, no fighting, and to have a peaceful and calm time.  It didn’t happen.  By Christmas Day, I had a nervous breakdown.  There were SO MANY people and SO MUCH was going on, it was crazy!!!  Friday, my buddy Joe arrived and Saturday we went to my sister’s for Christmas Eve. 

Christmas Day was here, my sister brought a stray with her, so if you’re keeping count, there were 13 people here.  Judy’s stray wanted to make wassail for everyone and the crockpot wouldn’t hold it all, so we had to do it on the stove, which he fretted over literally all day.  The present situation, even though we all scaled back, was again totally crazy out of control—even if you only buy each person 1 thing, that’s 13 presents for 13 people (for a total of 169), and you know that no one bought ONLY one thing for each of the kids.  So it was pandemonium.

For our part, Mike and I made each family member (Mom, Dad, Judy, Lucas, and Joe) a scrapbook of memories of our times together.  It was a special moment for everyone and there were a lot of tears flowing as everyone looked through their pictures and swapped books and traded stories.  We also made a photo collage of all of us making funny faces (mostly unintentionally).

And framed them. Everyone got one of those.  So it helped lighten the mood a bit from all the other crying.

Dinner was the traditional roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.  Mickey announced the first night he was here that he wasn’t eating a thing I cooked, all he wanted to eat was beef ramen noodles, despite the fact that he doesn’t eat beef.  He informed me that the noodles are only beef flavored.  I asked him where the beef flavoring came from and he couldn’t tell me.  I read the package and sure enough they contain beef, but I didn’t give a damn and didn’t tell him.  And I also let him eat Yorkshire pudding, despite it having beef “flavoring” in it. :-)

Dad and I did our traditional trip to Richmond to see the Ginter Gardens Festival of Lights, which was beautiful, as was the weather!  It wasn’t warm, but it was far warmer than usual when I had to stand by the bonfire for an hour mid-way through.  They expanded their repertoire slightly so we got to see some new lights and of course, we got crapped on at our favorite awful Burger King, where we ALWAYS get lousy service.  It was a fun night!

Post-Christmas was similarly busy.  Our “memory” present to Mom was a trip to the Melting Pot, so I took her out one night for that.  Joe decided I needed to start watching Ghost Adventures and Ancient Aliens, and we invented a drinking game to correspond with those (every time someone yelled “DUDE!” in Ghost Adventures or said “Aliens” or “extra terrestrials” or some variant there of in Ancient Aliens, we took a drink).  By the time we were done, (and let me be clear here, we were drinking Mike’s Hard Lemonades, this was not serious alcohol!  But I haven’t had a drink in probably 5 or 6 years and Joe is a real lightweight when it comes to alcohol so this was never going to end well), I was sitting on the floor convinced I could understand every word some German guy was saying, and Joe was moaning about a headache, which took him most of the next day to get rid of. 

We spent one day with Andy and Melissa bowling and taking Mickey to Coldstone Creamery, since he wanted ice cream.  Mike took the whole week off, which was nice for me to have a break! 

I took Mickey on my famous nighttime tour of DC in an effort to get him to spend some portion of the day either not watching TV or playing around on the computer and to interact with some member of our family.  I think he enjoyed it once we left, although he put up a bit of a fight about going.  I was excited to see the new Martin Luther King Jr Memorial, which I hadn’t seen yet and somehow almost drove past.  You can’t believe how big that thing is.  The pictures I’ve seen of it do it no justice at all.  It is literally massive.

We essentially did nothing to celebrate New Year’s Eve.  We forced Mickey away from the computer 10 seconds before the ball dropped on Times Square so at least he could say he saw it, although he wasn’t much impressed.  Mike went back to work on the 3rd, so I tried to come up with things to do with Mickey every day.  We went and saw a 3D movie—my first one ever, The Adventures of TinTin, which was OK, went to the mall, and had lots of Thai food, which is in short supply in rural KY.  Friday we started getting ready for our 3 Kings party, which was seriously scaled back this year—half what it was last year.  I didn’t want to have a huge crowd and be exhausted, so I decided just to have a few people and call it a night.  Mickey announced the beef stroganoff smelled terrible and that he was going to sit in the kitchen so he could leave, and then after watching me cook, clean, and set up for 2 days, just as we were ready to sit down, he asked if he could make ramen noodles.  I should have told him what he could do with his ramen noodles, but held my temper and told him no as politely as I could.  When I sat down to dinner on the other end of the table, my friend asked me what was wrong, that I looked like I was ready to commit murder.  Haha.

We dropped him at the airport yesterday and spent the rest of the day tidying up.  I had a nice evening last night, preparing English tea and watching the Downton Abbey premiere on PBS.

So that brings us to January.  Leah is in dance lessons—has been doing it for over a month now and LOVES it.  She is particularly fond of tap dancing and although she is the tiniest and youngest girl in her class, she is doing just great and learning a lot.  We have started back to Toddlin’ Time on Tuesdays and now are on the hunt for pre-school.  I am touring one place tomorrow which is probably the one that is farthest from my house and at the far end of where I am willing to go.  I start school on Wednesday.  We are going to my dad’s for a week next week, but Mike is staying home again to have some peace and quiet. 

Otherwise, I am watching lots of Quantum Leap on NetFlix, trying to keep up with housework (a losing battle), and trying to make good on my New Year’s resolution of cutting back and doing less while making it mean more.  I would like to get back into Weight Watchers, but every time I say that, I go for 3 weeks and quit again.  I need to find the motivation I had in 2008.

So I’ll probably write again in another 2 months when Merry says “WAKE UP!” :) 

Bloggety, Blog, Blog, Blog

The last time I blogged was on 9/11 and little did I know that all hell would continue to break loose around here.  We got our basement fixed up beautifully—I’m happy to say you would never know anything happened.  There is one less couch and there is a lot of extra lighting now, which is awesome, but other than that, life is back to normal downstairs!

In the meantime, the car needed new brakes and I needed glasses, which added up to a lot of money!!!!!  Thankfully we were able to get both done and finish paying off the credit card bills, because things just kept getting crazier!

Unfortunately, just as we were preparing to go to NY for my dad’s 60th, my mom called to say her long time companion Jim had collapsed after having suffered a massive heart attack.  He passed away on September 28th.  Having been a big part of our lives for a number of our years, this was a really sad loss for the family.  I was thus in Florida for almost 3 weeks.  During this time, Kristin from Iceland moved out.  I was disappointed in a way, but I think it was probably for the best and since I am still working with her new family’s other student, I will see her here and there.  I very much doubt we will host next year although I said that this year, so who knows, but I’m excited to say that Penny’s brother Mickey is coming to spend Christmas with us this year, so it’ll be kind of like celebrating with an exchange student anyway and we’ll get 2 weeks of fun before sending him on his way.

Florida was a good time, despite the circumstances.  I found things for Leah to do in and around Vero Beach and we went to the Brevard Zoo, SeaWorld, and Lion Country Safari.  I do believe the kid knows more about animals than any other 2 year old around!  Her particular favorites were the sharks and penguins at SeaWorld.  I also took her to see the movie A Dolphin Tale, which she loved and went around telling everyone she could find that the dolphin broke its tail.  We came home from SeaWorld with a 3 foot long Shamu, and just recently Leah ripped all the stuffing from ‘Mu’s tail and has informed me that Mu has a broken tail like the dolphin.  When I re-stuff Mu, we shall remedy his broken tail with a band-aid!  We also paid some extra money to go pet a rhinoceros, which was a pretty awesome experience that I won’t soon forget!  Leah liked taking a scrub brush to him and tickling him.  Whenever I ask her about the rhino, she says, “BRUSH!” (you can kind of see the rhino behind my mom in the picture above)  So we did a lot of things we might not otherwise have gotten to do and I got to go to the beach (even if it wasn’t Myrtle Beach) and just chill out and help out my mom as needed.  We kind of tossed around the idea of Disney World, I think more because Mom and I wanted to go than we really wanted to take Leah, but cooler heads prevailed—she really is still too young and we want her to remember that first time forever.  Another couple of years!

This class I am taking is really kicking my butt.  For 3 weeks, I basically did nothing, as the professor told me not to worry about it, so I’ve been playing catch up ever since.  We have group projects to do, and I’m happy to say I have great group members who really picked up the slack for me, and so I am now going to work doubly hard to make up for the work I didn’t do on Assignment 2.  Only 36 days till the class is over, THANK GOD, and let us hope I never take a class about organizing data and information EVER AGAIN!  Next semester I hope to take Introduction to Archiving so I can see if I really want to pursue that as a career option like I’ve been thinking I might.

I had fun in October going to the Kennedy Center to see Les Mis with some members of my choir, and then spending that evening answering phones for WAMU at their annual member drive.  We had a recordbreaking night, getting $35,000 in 3 hours, which is pretty incredible.  I love volunteering during The Big Broadcast—the most interesting mix of people volunteer and we had  fun table.  It was nice to unwind and let my hair down after the stress of Jim’s death and the classwork piling up.  The production of Les Mis was spellbinding—literally I wept many times and it was just a great performance. 

Leah and I have been having a lot of fun getting ready for Halloween.  We’ve been doing little projects now, like baking bread and making pumpkin-shaped jello and pumpkin-shaped crayons from all the crayons she broke to bits.  I went over to the local teacher supply store and bought a few charts for the walls so we are learning our colors and taking little scavenger hunts.  We talk about the weather and count the days on the calendar.  We went to the pumpkin patch and carved pumpkins today.  It’s fun and keeps her engaged.  I am looking forward to getting her into preschool, but am not in any rush.  We are keeping busy with a music class and MOPS and various and sundry other activities and are looking into gymnastics.  She’s a fun kid and able to do so much more.  Even though I miss snuggling with a newborn, I do enjoy these toddler days!  I like being crafty and even little things turn into a lot of fun for her, so I try to come up with something to keep her interested and teach her something new, while allowing me to stretch my creative muscles and keep from getting cranky!

Hopefully our bathroom project will get underway soon.  We finally got our loan approved and got the money to pay the contractor, so we’re ready to go.  We picked a design and that’s that!  It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly 3 months since the Great Flood, and while it had unintended consequences, it’s fun to think of the positives of the situation and how we’re going to come out of it.  We also paid off our car this month, ahead of schedule, which loosens up our budget some to do some other things.  It’s the first time in 6 years we don’t have a car payment.  We nearly got hit today by the local ne’er-do-well on our way out to get pumpkins to carve, and I thought, “Wouldn’t that just be my luck!?” but thankfully he got back on his side of the road with about 6 inches to spare before he hit us.

Joe and I went and saw the MST3K live show, Cinematic Titanic, again on Thursday night.  It’s a fun way for him and I to celebrate our frienshipversary—this year being #17.  It won’t be long now before I’ve known him more than half my life, which I find mindboggling.  We had our traditional Bertucci’s dinner and then walked around DC for a couple of hours before the show started.  Afterwards, we got on line for the signing and I got myself a poster to have signed.  We also discovered Joel was allowing people to take pictures, so of course, we took full advantage.  I like that all of us are modeling sexy eyewear! :-D  My next big celebrity trip will be in November to see Diane Keaton at 6th and I Synagogue, which should be quite interesting.  I enjoy watching her, and she seems like she’d just be a really nice and down to earth person, so I’m looking forward to meeting her!  I wonder if she’s going to wear something crazy or just dress casually.

In general, I’m just feeling quite content with life.  I seem to have made friends with some exceptionally kind and low key people—just last week I was able to go out to dinner with 3 new girlfriends and we all sat around and laughed and chattered until before we knew it, 2+ hours had gone by.  I’ve joined a new book club here in town, which is fun, and my NoVa book club seems to have gotten back on track, surviving the 7 year itch.  I’ve become very friendly with a wonderful couple down the street and their daughter, all of whom think Leah is the best kid in the universe (and of course, I quite agree!). 

I’m keeping busy, busy, busy and keep telling Mike, “I promise, I’m going to calm down…after this week”.  Fortunately he’s been patient with what has been a ridiculous autumn!

There have been a lot of fun little things going on and I always think, “Oh, I should blog about that!” but usually I am too tired!  It’s a shame—Leah says some damned cute stuff that I’d like to remember and we have a lot of fun and do a lot of things, but time just keeps on slipping away…  I really can’t believe tomorrow is Halloween!  Then it’s November, and I do debate doing NaNoWriMo just so I can get this damned whiteboard down from my bulletin board and finish my book!  And then in a few short weeks, it will be Thanksgiving.  Mike and I have been debating what to do in April for our 10th wedding anniversary, and yet it seems like just yesterday we were getting married.  I feel too young to be this old and too old at the same time. 

I’ll close here and who knows when I’ll blog again!  The new Facebook sucks, but it doesn’t seem to keep me from using it, so of course, you can get my updates there if I don’t update here :)  Ta ta!

Advent Week 2

Reflections on Peace:

Peacefulness is an inner sense of calm—it comes from becoming still—in order to reflect and meditate on our inner wisdom and receive answers.  A peaceful heart is one that is free from worry and trouble.  It’s becoming quiet so we can look at things quietly so we can more clearly understand them and thus come up with creative solutions.  It is learning to live in the present.

“Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.”

--Desiderata

Left Over Christmas Cards

I have approximately 20 left over Christmas cards. I thought I'd send them out to soldiers, but unfortunately, I missed the Red Cross deadline so I can't send them out to soldiers. I did a Google search and nothing has really come up. So if you want a Christmas card from a random person, drop me a line with your email and I'll get your address and send you a card. I'd be interested to see where I can send cards to!

Merry Christmas!

Just Random Stuff

Not much has been going on lately that I really want to blog too much about, the typical family drama rearing its ugly head now and again, but I’m getting through it and I’m frankly tired of dealing with it, so am working on strategies to make it through without destroying myself in the process.

Other than that, life has taken on a pretty even keel.  I cannot believe my little baby is 8 months old already.  I saw a picture of her as a 1 month old and I couldn’t get over it, how she couldn’t sit up on her own, she was just a little mushy lump.  I miss that little mushy lump, but the Leah that is emerging is an absolute joy.  She is my favorite person in the world.  She makes me laugh and she makes me cry tears of joy.

My book club met Monday to discuss The Third Angel by Alice Hoffman.  Most of us didn’t really like it, and I heard “This is not Alice’s best”, which cracks me up because when we read Blackbird House in another book club, we heard, “This is not Alice’s best!”  So, what is Alice’s best?  I have Illumination Night here, but I’m hesitant to read it.  I can get through her books pretty quick, though, so even if it sucks, maybe I’d be OK just to add it to the pile.  I am presently reading In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash by Jean Shepherd, which is this month’s book club selection; we will discuss it on January 4th.  When I get through it, and it’s a Christmas book so it’s a great time to be reading it, I’ll have read 65 books this year.  I am also going to try to plow through Elizabeth Berg’s The Handmaid and the Carpenter, which I wanted to read last Christmas, but didn’t get to.  Otherwise, that will be next year’s Christmas selection.

I got out our Christmas decorations this week and put them up—I don’t know if I have lost things or I have more house or I’m missing a box, or what, but honestly, the house looks pretty bare.  I have a nativity set in the basement and one up in the living room, plus a couple little odds and ends, but I can’t seem to locate a few things I know are ‘somewhere’.  Ahh, the mystical somewhere.  Our tree goes up next week on the 19th, and then the fun begins.  This weekend, Melissa will take Leah for us on Sunday so I can actually really clean and scrub the house from top to bottom and get the Christmas shopping done.  I am so excited to have this time to get things done, and not to have to worry about screaming baby.  She provides good weight training, but it’s hard doing a lot with 18 pounds of extra weight strapped to me!!!

I am also weeding through things and getting rid of a bunch of junk and setting other things aside to have a yard sale this spring.  I would like to get rid of a lot of the junk that has accumulated in the past 4+ years.  With the extra money, I’d like to buy a wardrobe for the basement guest room so people can hang up their clothes when they come visit and buy my sister a couch so I have someplace to sit and sleep when I go visit her.  I suspect I’m going to have to find a lot more things to sell in order to accomplish that.  I’ve found a lot of interesting stuff.  I found a Geocoin I didn’t know I had—this one from something called GeocacheTreasures.com which no longer exists.  It’s a beauty of a coin, I must say.  I also found wedding invitations for 2 of my roommates from Utah.  Armed with the information on one of them, I found the last of the girls I’d lived with for 4 months in 1997.  Facebook is an amazing place!  With that, I’ve now been reunited with all 5 of them, and we are now swapping Christmas cards and emails.  It was a short time, and for me an intensely unhappy time, but they were all an absolute blast to hang out with, and I’m glad to see them and their families.  Funnily enough, Amy (who I actually shared a room with) and I both have daughters with birthdays in April and our roommate Christina is expecting her first baby *drum roll please* next April!    The long lost Jennifer has surfaced in New York, my old home state.  It would be fun to have a reunion sometime.

It hasn’t really sunk in yet that Leah’s officially ours.  In a way, I’ve just lived the past 8 months as if she is—I have loved her fiercely and determinedly.  The visits were not particularly invasive; if anything they were a chance to ask questions and get advice about parenting.  Of course, we are now being asked if we want to/will do it again, and our answer is a firm “Probably” although we both agreed we might like to try foster care next time.  We’ve been incredibly blessed with Leah and her adoption and the process and people we worked with, and it would be nice to work with a child in need of a home who just needs a chance, be it permanently or temporarily.  We have decided to let Leah be in charge of when or if she wants a brother or sister, but neither one of us is in any rush right now to get into another situation immediately.   We just want to enjoy our little girl.

That’s really about it.  I’ve been invited to attend DBVI’s Christmas party on Monday and told not to show up without Leah, so that is our Monday plan.  Monday night, we’ll be going out with Landry and Meredith to trivia night at the Fredericksburg Pub.  We are lucky to have a wonderful babysitter here in town who is great with Leah and very patient.  She even has the foresight to pack earplugs for those times Leah wants her mommy and screams if Mommy doesn’t oblige.

I’m going to be cleaning up my blog sidebar in the new year.  If your blog hasn’t been updated in the past month, I plan to remove it unless it would seriously upset you/hurt your feelings.  Let me know.  I have also decided NOT to post 80 Plates on this blog anymore—it’s really an excuse not to blog about things on this blog and just let the cooking do the talking.  So from here out, you will have to go to the 80 Plates blog if you want to see what’s cooking. 

For now, it’s over and out!  Hope everyone is enjoying the December holidays!

Article & Video Link

To read the article about our Christmas party, please visit THIS LINK. :-)

You can also see a great video HERE.

Late Blogging

Well, courtesy of a nasty Trojan that got on my computer somehow over the holidays (which one of you bastards downloaded what, Family!?), I have been extremely limited in what I could do. As in, Twitter worked and nothing else. I could get on the main page of Facebook about 50% of the time, but couldn't do anything, including change my status, once I got there. Thus do I owe many of you comments and notes back and I will try to get to them this week.

Anyway, I wanted to do some blogging on New Year's Eve/Day, but had to wait until my new computer arrived from the Stan Clan, which it did last night. And then we were up till 11:30 tweaking the settings, so I was too stinkin' tired to do anything but crawl into bed.

Alrighty. Well, it was a race to the finish, but I managed to finish the year at approximately 105 books read. Considering that by the time my book club met on December 8th, I had broken 100, this is not much of an accomplishment. However, I do say approximately because I noted that I had forgotten to post many of the things I'd read on GoodReads this year, so there may have been some I forgot about.

This leads me to my first 2009 Plan (I refuse to use the word resolution, as I can't be sure what the heck might happen this year after what I endured in '08, so no sense resolving to do things I'm not sure I can keep up with): to be better about logging and blogging my book reads throughout the year. Mostly this will take place on my GoodReads profile, so if you're interested in what I've read, then feel free to head over there and friend me. However, notable books will still be blogged about over here. After I finish off this post, I'll be starting a new one about the last 3 books I read, all of which I think are worth mentioning.

I have four other reading goals for 2009:

1. To read all my book club books in time for the meetings, regardless of whether or not I like them. This presented an extreme challenge already with finishing off The Shipping News in time for the December meeting, because I absolutely hated it. And this month, although I LOVE our book, I am struggling to finish The Lace Reader, as thus far it's not a terribly festive little book and it's a rather festive time of year. But I will have it done in time for our meeting in a week and a half.

Yes, girls, confession time, I haven't read every single book. Bad Susan! I have tried to read every book, but frankly, I never used to force myself to read books I couldn't get into after 50 pages, so it's a whole new world for me out there.

I noted that I haven't posted this year's reading list for the Lit Chicks, so here's what we'll be reading so far:

* The View from Mt. Joy by Lorna Landvik
* What Was Lost by Catherine Flynn
* Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
* Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
* The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Schaffer
* The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs

Obviously, several people haven't yet selected their books, but already we have an intriguing and eclectic mix of books here. I'm excited about this year's reading list!

2. This year, I will read Gone With the Wind. Sound familiar? That's because I pledged to read it last year, but I didn't. Since visiting Mike and Lesley in Atlanta, I have really wanted to read it, but oddly enough, putting it on my wish list at Paperback Swap hasn't garnered me a single copy! So I'm going to have to go and pick up a copy at either the library or the store.

3. Jacalyn and I were sitting around talking the other night and her hubby mentioned reading Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell and how tedious it was. For some reason, this led to the two of us deciding that we must embark upon reading it together. She's got it on audio and is going to make me a copy for when I finish The Lady Elizabeth. The good thing about listening in the car is that I'm essentially trapped, so I feel confident that I can finish it within about 2 weeks' time.

4. My sister told me about the Alphabet Challenge. I don't know where she heard about it, but apparently the goal is to read one book with a title corresponding to each letter of the alphabet. I will complete this, though as far as I know, Sue Grafton hasn't gotten to X yet, so I'm slightly concerned...

So those are my reading plans for the year. I expect I will probably break 100 again this year, for a perfect trifecta. At least, I hope to! I'm about halfway through my first book, You Can't Curl Your Hair With Holy Rollers, which is very entertaining. It should be a rather quick read, but I've been so exhausted at the end of each day that I haven't gotten done with it like I thought I would. Today, perhaps.

So 2008 was a year I was only too happy to say "good riddance" to, although I am the only one in my family who feels that way. Michael listed off the good things about the year, many of which I agreed with, but overall, I spent a year in a lot of unhappiness, which led to a number of poor choices, and a few good outcomes as well.

I don't want to get too deeply personal here, as for the most part I try to keep this as a day-to-day blog of just the basics of my life. But 2008 will be remembered as the year I decided to basically eat myself into an early grave. I was so despondant with the way things were turning out, with relationships with my family, with our inability to start a family of our own, that I just started eating. And I didn't stop for two months. At the end of that little orgy, I'd gained 20 pounds, I looked and felt even more miserable than I already had, and it was in danger of becoming a downward spiral until only one conclusion could be reached.

But fortunately, there was a glimmer of hope shining at me, and not only was I able to work through some of the issues that I was having with the family--though they are by no means fully resolved--I was able to take strength from Annette, Russell, and Amy having the courage to join Weight Watchers, and decided to do the same. I will never forget the feeling of dread that first meeting-stepping on the scale with a total stranger. It was humiliating. While my leader didn't care a whit--I guess after a while numbers are numbers to them--to me it was proof of just how far I had allowed myself to go. I resolved then that if I could just get it together and put myself back into the driver seat of my own life, I would never let that happen again. Will I be successful? I don't honestly know. I do know that I have lost 56 pounds in 7 months. I weigh less now than I did at our wedding. I feel better, I am exercising, and I am working hard to conquer my personal demons one day at a time. I fell off the wagon this past week, so I'm somewhat dreading the scales tomorrow, but having not gained any weight at all over Christmas, I'm willing to give myself a little leeway. But I'll be back on the horse on Saturday, and won't look back.

So, I do resolve to continue with my Weight Watchers efforts and with working hard at being an honest person and saying what I need to say, even if that might be hurtful at times to others. I can't go back to how things were in March of last year. And I won't let my real self be covered under thick layers for the sake of others any more.

Additionally disappointing was not being able to see Mike and Lesley last year for the first time since we've become friends. We have selected Mike and Lesley to be our children's guardians, should we ever have children and then die a sudden and definitely most tragic death. I picture something painless yet dramatic. Still, we didn't get to Atlanta this year, and with Lesley's crazy work schedule, they weren't able to get to Virginia either. Hopefully next year the four of us can take a nice beach vacation somewhere, even if only for a long weekend. We all deserve it, and Lesley and I have to go parasailing together. So I plan for that to happen.

On the bright side, we did get to finally meet Russell and Amy and see Annette again--thank you, Annette, for bringing us all together as friends! :-) It was a wonderful trip and I have such happy memories of our time in Savannah. Hopefully we will be able to do it again sometime or get you all up to Fredericksburg! ;-)

The final thing I hope to keep up with this year is a daily gratitude journal. My book club gift this year for the gift exchange was a The Reading Woman engagement calendar. Starting yesterday, I jotted down a few things I was grateful for that happened during the day--things like The Stan Clan's friendship, snuggling with my niece, and one of the games on my Wii that I enjoy playing. I've got the calendar here by my computer, since this is where I typically end my days, checking my e-mail "one last time", and I can jot a few words down and remember the things I have to be thankful for. By the end of 2009, I should have a lovely momento of the wonderful things about my life, as I definitely don't remember much about the good things of 2008--though the General can rattle off a steady stream of them. Mainly I remember the warmth and comfort of friends and friendship and that is what I'm most grateful for in 2008.

So, those are my goals and plans for '09: reading, gratitude journal, Weight Watchers. I've learned not to expect too much, not to promise too much, not to plan for too much, because you certainly never know what curveballs life is going to throw your way. I hope 2009 is gracious and good to all of you and to all of me :-)

Thank you for reading and being a part of my life. Who knows where this blog may lead us next!

Christmas Come and Gone

Well, Christmas is over and I can hardly believe it! Never have I ever been so busy. My usual favored Christmas activities didn't get done as I barely managed to keep my head above water, and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that!

We were not expecting guests until the 22nd, so imagine our surprise when people started arriving on the 19th! Judy, Lucas, and Dottie arrived on Friday evening and this somewhat spurred us to action that perhaps we should get a Christmas tree. Saturday morning, the General and I got up and went down to the Roxbury Garden Center in Old Town F'burg and bought a tree there. It was/is much fresher than our usual Home Depot trees, but not as big. Still, I loved it and the people who work there were so, so nice to us and helped us bag it and mount it to the roof of the car.

Saturday evening my mom arrived, and by Monday my dad was here. Tuesday, the General and I had medical appointments--I went to the doctor at 8:45am and then we both went to the dentist at 2:45pm. You all know how much I hate going to the dentist anyway, so I decided I would just go ahead and get all the work done at once. And we decided to get the General's crown done as well, since they were having a special $200 off and we couldn't pass that off for his teeth!

Ok, so lo and behold with one thing and another--and some possibly worrisome news on my end (my x-rays show that I have an "abnormality" growing on my jaw and I have to go and consult with an oral surgeon)--we didn't get out of the dentist's office till nearly 6pm. Tuesday was the last day most people were working before Christmas, and traffic was akin to one of Dante's 7 levels of hell. My father didn't beleive me about sticking it out and waiting for the HOV lanes and thought he could do better in the main lines, which was a HUGE mistake. Finally when we hit Woodbridge, he decided to try Route 1, which I also knew was a mistake--traffic PLUS traffic lights! However, his blood sugars were dropping and making him dangerously unpleasant to be around and so at least on Route 1 we could stop at Thomas's and pick up pizzas for the crew when we got home. I called my mom to let her know we'd be home as soon as we could, and that was that. We stopped in at Thomas's, picked up some pies and calzones, and hit the road.

Unfortunately, as we were hungry, we bit into the calzones and the General's temporary crown broke in half and fell out of his mouth. Well, there was no way the dentist was open, so we were left with a dilemma on our hands of what to do next. There was no way to get back up north, and no way we were going to go back up there only to get back in the line of traffic. We decided to go home. I took over driving, and headed west instead of south, cut through the PW Forest on Rte. 619, hit route 1 below Quantico, followed Rte. 1 to Eskimo Hill in Stafford, shot off there and took 2 back roads to our house. We got home at 9:30pm. Judy and Lucas and Joe had just gotten back themselves from Dottie's doctor's appointment.

We sat and ate pizza and debated what to do about the tooth. I called the dentist and left a message that we'd like to come up first thing in the morning. Then as we got to talking, Judy suggested that since I'd left our car at her house, why didn't she drive us up north, we could stay over at her house, and then go to the dentist first thing and come home in the morning? So that's what we did. It was dead quiet up there, we got our car back, and hit the dentist's office at 7:30am. They didn't open till 8:00, but we got in at 7:45 and the General was the first person they saw. Fortunately for us, one of their office managers/receptionists lives in Woodbridge and felt our pain.

So now it is Christmas Eve, and as yet, I have not baked a single cookie. Good for WW, but not so good for me--baking cookies makes Christmas 'Christmas' for me. So we haul it home, I don't let the General eat any breakfast, and I get home, and Judy is baking cookies, my parents are out shopping, Lucas is on the Wii and Joe is hanging out. The phone is ringing like crazy with my mom calling to ask various questions, and the General goes upstairs. Well, as it turns out, Judy and Lucas had slept in our room the previous night and there was some stuff around the room. Judy ran up to move it out of the way and the General said something about his phone charger being unplugged. This sent Judy into a screaming burst of tears and she literally ran down the stairs, slamming doors, screaming and sobbing. In an attempt to make peace, I went down to see what the matter was, but she couldn't even talk, so I went back upstairs to demand some answers from the General, who thought Judy was laughing. So I took him by the hand and shoved him in the room with Judy to work out their differences. The cookies were burning, so Joe and I attempted to take care of that.

My parents got home, and my dad decided to take Lucas and head to Richmond to meet up with his girlfriend's family (my dad's girlfriend, not Lucas's). So they left and Judy and the General had rejoined us by now, and we all had lunch and then Joe and I headed to the store to get dinner--as Christmas Eve dinner is now traditionally my job, and I love doing it. We decided to make crab and shrimp stuffed mushrooms and Joe's famous linguine with shrimp. I was in charge of the mushrooms, so I got that stuff, and Joe got everything else. We also got some cheese and crackers for a little pre-dinner yumminess to go with the mushrooms, which the general was not going to touch.

My dad and Lucas got back around 3:30 and Joe and I started cooking. We ate and unfortunately, the General's crown fell out again. Fortunately, it didn't break this time, but I was so aggravated, and so was he. We had some "fix it" crown glue, so I put it on there and he put it back in. It seemed to hold OK, but I called the dentist and from their recording gleaned that they would not re-open until Saturday. I left a message that we'd be back up on Saturday, but I was inwardly fuming about having to go back to NoVa again. My sister, sensing imminent meltdown on my part, volunteered to take the General, and I agreed that would be a good thing.

By 10, I think most of us were in bed. Christmas came and went in a blur. We opened up our presents and had a nice breakfast. My dad and I went to Mass, my once yearly tip of the hat to Jesus. I hate the church down here--the masses are so overblown and all that singing drives me crazy. Just say what you want to say and shut up. Well, they announced who the priest was going to be and the old guy behind us said, "Oh God" and groaned, which filled me with dread, and rightly so. This dude wound up giving us a history lesson on the early history of the church, persecution of the Christians, and the heresy of the Aryans. He stopped in the midst of the prayers and didn't seem able to start back up again. Finally my dad leaned over and said, "Do you think he forgot the words?" which led me to giggle uncontrollably.

We got home and Mom was doing battle with dinner, so I helped out where I could. Dad and Judy were watching TV, everyone was just kind of hanging around. We took some pictures, as the General and i got everyone bathrobes for Christmas, but for once everyone was too hot, so they didn't stay on very long. The above photo was with the robes, below is without (obviously).



We had a nice meal, and then the General and I dug in and decided to fix my mom's computer, as she was leaving the next day and had had a major crash the day before. A lot of the files had been encrypted, so we had to figure out how to hack into the files from XP home, and I did so. Man did I feel like Queen for a Day when I got those files up and running :-) We backed everything up on a flash drive and restored it all to the hard drive, so everything was fine.

Meanwhile, my mom and sister were getting into it downstairs, having one hell of a screaming match complete with several creative curse words thrown in. The rest of us just stayed out of the way and everything was resolved.

Friday, my mom left around 10:30. The General and I had finished up with her computer that morning and I helped her pack up. She and little Sidney Pup were headed back to the warmer climes of Florida. My dad was buying me a new digital camera for Christmas, and I noted that the one I wanted was on sale at Ritz Camera, so he decided we should go and grab it. So we did. We took Judy with us, and I got the camera I wanted--a Panasonic TZ4 (thanks, Brian, for the info!)--and not only, but I also go it with 18 free camera classes, a warranty, free photos, and a free photo book, all for less than what it should have cost retail. What a sale!

Then the three of us hit Carlos O'Kelly's for lunch. And man, did we eat! It was the kind of meal you get only once in a blue moon, but it feels so good when it's hapening. I literally ate nothing else all day--just that meal. We had nachos and fried ice cream, enchiladas, queso, chips and salsa, and sopapillas. No doubt it used up my full points allotment for the day. We got home around 4 and Lucas and Joe were leaving--Joe to go home and Lucas to bring a load of stuff up to their place to get it out of our house--Dottie got tons of presents for Christmas--clothes, formula, diapers, toys, etc.

By 6:30, my dad and I were getting antsy. We had our annual trek to Richmond to the Ginter Gardens light show planned and we were hoping Lucas would get back in time to take care of Dottie so Judy could go. That didn't wind up happening, so close to 7, my dad and I headed out. The gardens were gorgeous and I got to play around with my new camera some. Most fun, Dad and I climbed into an igloo made of blue lights and we immediately looked like Violet Beauregard from Willy Wonka.



On the way home, we stopped at the nearby BK. Last year we stopped there, and some jerk had parked so close to us that we couldn't get into the car and we wound up dumping my Sprite all over their car door for revenge. This year, we decided to hit the drive through and the guy manning the drive through talked like he had marbles in his mouth. We literally couldn't understand a word this guy was saying. And the more he talked, the worse it got and he seemed to be yelling at me for something. Finally, my dad busted out laughing, and I started laughing and we could barely get the order out. As it was, I cancelled getting my apple fries. I just couldn't repeat myself again. We are curious what the BK will have in store next year.

Saturday, we were all busy again. I went to Weight Watchers in the morning and Judy took the General back to the dentist. As it turns out, the General has something called a Class 3 bite, which makes temporary crowns all but impossible. (When the General bites, he bites hard!) Two different dentists were there to work on him. They wound up using permanent glue to attach that bad boy and we are now on day 3 without anything making a move. So we are hopeful. Dad and I went to the dump in the morning and then hit the Linens N Things going out of business sale. We spent $23 and wound up with a pile of stuff. I don't even know if all of it works or not, but I was excited to get it. On the way home, we went to the post office and he asked me about how much it would cost him to send Judy and I to tea. I made a guess, and when we got home, I called over to the new tea shop in F'burg, but they were closed, so we didn't get to go there. Instead, we went to Tea Thyme. We made that tea last for 2+ hours. It was a lot of fun. There was a group of women there, all with their little girls and we started dreaming of bringing our own daughters some day to tea after Christmas. We finished up and hit the Tea Thyme gift shop and then decided to go back to Linens N Things in case there was anything left worth having. There was not. We went to Borders and Old Navy and Catherine's as well. I got my new hat (thanks to all for the fun comments on it--I LOVE this hat!) Then we watched The Muppet's Christmas Carol, which was fun, and some Faerie Tale Theater, which is now out on DVD. I used to love it when we were little, so I got it for Dottie for Christmas, but I think her mother and aunt will be more interested in it than she will be. I set up a little photo shoot with Dottie in the afternoon to try the baby setting on the new camera. Now that she's a month old, she's not as pliable to my will--she has very definite opinions about posing for pictures. She also had definite opinions about wardrobe, but Old Navy had a little top and frilly skirt on sale that I couldn't pass up and I wanted her to wear it for her pictures, so I was determined she'd wear them. Finally, she acquiesced, but she screamed for a few minutes just to let me know she wasn't happy. The pictures came out great though, don't you think? (of course there are more on my flicker at http://www.flickr.com/photos/katekosior)




Then it was my dad's turn for a meltdown. He was making us meatloaf for dinner, and couldn't find anything. It turned out we were out of bread crumbs, which I did not know, and then he came upstairs yelling about us not having potatoes. (I was in the middle of my photo shoot and was kind of busy) I went downstairs to get him some potatoes and he was standing there with a bag of potatoes in his hand. I said, "What are those?" "Well, there are only five, how can I make french fries out of 5 potatoes?" They were 5 HUGE potatoes. I said, "Well, I'm not going to eat any, so don't worry about it. I'll make potato pancakes out of the leftover mashed potatoes."

So he was not happy about that but finally agreed. He also couldn't find a CD. I guess he was pretty pissed because he was still steaming about it yesterday morning and the General told him to settle down and that with 5 extra people in the house using stuff and moving it, I couldn't possibly be expected to know where everything is.

Sunday morning my dad left, and Judy and Lucas hung out till 10 (!) last night. We got the house kind of picked up and I helped them pack some. Judy and I went to Old Town and she took the pictures of me in my new hat. I'm finally starting to like the way I look in pictures, which is a huge step forward. And it feels good, too. I also took a picture of a mega-cool mailbox I saw while we were driving around. That was the excitement to be had in the burg on a Sunday afternoon.



It was clear Lucas was ready to roll after supper, which Judy bought and prepared for us as a "thank you" for our hospitality. Hilariously, she forgot to buy french fries for the General and asked me what to do, when I spotted the potato bag atop the fridge and discovered that my dad had only used 3 of the 5 potatoes. So she made fries from those.

Once they left, I spent about 20 minutes picking up a few things in the house, sweeping up dog food and crumbs, tossing the burned cookies into the trash, putting away papers and gifts, and making a "deal with it Monday" pile on the kitchen table.

So that was our Christmas. Of course, our Three Kings dinner is on January 10th, so I am leaving everything as is, decorations wise and furniture wise, till then. I think because we got a much smaller tree this year, we might even be able to leave the tree up, which is exciting. Last year we had to take it down.

Today, the General and I will be making another dump run (our 5th run in 2 weeks). We plan to meet up with Jacalyn and Doug and the boys for pizza and will go up to Alexandria for New Year's Eve, as they are supposed to have the best fireworks around. The General is going back to work on 1/2 for a day, so I'll get a day to myself at the end of this week, but honestly, we've just enjoyed today and last night immensely. It's been weird though too, and almost too quiet. It was a good holiday, just way too busy. I'm not sure what we'll do next year--I want to be able to enjoy my December more and do things like baking and decorating with a bit more joy in my heart. With doctor's appointments, book signings, old jobs ending and new jobs starting, the stomach flu, The General getting sick, people in and out, new babies, etc. it was a crazy month. Thank God for online shopping--honestly I don't know how I'd have gotten my shopping done without it!

Hope everyone else had similarly great holidays. I'm going back upstairs to snuggle with my honey. :-)

Christmas and Other Matters

I haven't been feeling all that Christmasy this year, for reasons most of you can imagine. But we've been working hard this weekend at getting a bit more into the spirit. I spent Friday afternoon shopping like crazy and with just one or two little exceptions, I got it done. I got tons of great bargains off Amazon.com--I probably slashed the bills in half for what I thought I'd pay for certain items and I know the recipients will be pleased with what they get. I also know my brother-in-law will love what my dad is getting, as when I told Lucas about it, he started writhing with joy and anticipation. So at least I've hit on one winner for sure.

Do you have tough people to shop for? I sure do! MY MOTHER! (I know you're reading this, Mom, and I want you to know you are the toughest person on my list this year!) Ask my mom what she wants for Christmas. Go ahead. I dare you. Dimes to donuts, she'll tell you, "stamps". She will also tell you this for her birthday, Mother's Day, Flag Day, and Easter. Stamps don't cut it with me. The laugh's on her, however. I came up with a few little things and yesterday had a stroke of absolute genius, so fortunately I know what she's getting now, and it's brilliant.

My husband is also a challenge. I was going to get him a nice surprise of satellite radio this year. I went to Best Buy to find out about getting it. Why is it that those little geeks at Best Buy treat women shopping alone like gum on their shoe? I hate that! This little twerp was so condescending about what I'd need and spent all of 15 seconds with me before turning to the guy behind me and talking his ear off with a completely different tone of voice and body language and everything. This is the second bad experience I've had at Best Buy in the past couple months. So I'm not going in there unless I know what I need and I don't need to ask questions about it. Jerks. So now I'm stumped on a gift for the Mister. I know one thing he wants, but I need to find him a surprise too!

Yesterday, we spent the day at our friends Paul and Kris's home in Springfield. Each year, their church puts on a big shindig. It's a lovely concert for Christmas with a huge choir and orchestra, the pastor says a few words, and there are a few dramatic interpretations (although they save that largely for Easter). I don't know why, but whenever I go to big productions like that I get all weepy, and yesterday was no exception. I handled it, you know, but frankly it's getting embarrassing. I'm becoming one of those weepy women.

Afterwards we went back to their house for a big lasagna dinner. Paul is a fantastic cook, and we really enjoyed ourselves being loved up on by the dogs and cats, meeting their nephew and his wife, as well as catching up with a friend of theirs that we see at every Christmas and Easter show. Driving home, we both agreed that now it feels like the holidays. The show really kicked it off for us both.

Then we returned home to our cold, dark little house. We didn't do Christmas lights this year. I'm a bit sad about it, but a) my sister is the one who always goes up on the ladder, and she's in no fit state to do so this year, and b) I'm not so sure I want to pay the electric bill for it this year. We don't have up a tree yet, and that's going to have to wait till next weekend. Pretty much all that's up are the two nativity sets. One was my grandfather's and one is one that my dad gave me a few years ago.

I got a defective advent calendar this year! There was no little box for 12 or 13, and one of the boxes didn't have a number on it! Freakin' German paper engineering!

Today will be grocery shopping and enjoying the last few days of peace and quiet before the storm arrives. Everyone is arriving on the weekend and next Monday. Tuesday I have 2 medical appointments--the doctor in the morning and the dentist in the afternoon, but I've commanded my dad to take me to the dentist as I'm having both sides of my mouth done, because I just want to get it over and done with. However, I don't especially like going, the General is getting his crown replaced, and I just don't want to have to drive. I'm going to let Mom cook for everyone :-) Or something. (Surprise, Mom!)

This week at work will be pretty laid back. I have very few appointments to handle as most people don't want to see you this week. My busy day will be on Friday--I actually have 3 people pencilled in. And I have 2 on Wednesday. Tuesday and Thursday I'm still trying to work people in so I don't have to go to Fairfax. I have one a piece then. Monday is our big office party and staff meeting day. Apparently we're going out to eat, Kris informed me, and I have to ready myself for the gift exchange. I drew a hard pick this year, so I'm going with the infamous baked goods gift. I also have to make Kris some scones today--she won my baked goods auction item for the Combined Virginia Campaign at work.

And we have to go to the dump and the grocery store. So today will be quite busy. Fortunately there are some very good football games on today, so I can enjoy the sounds of the General hollering his head off while I bake up goodies for other people to eat. They warn us in Weight Watchers about "food pushers"--people who are constantly trying to get you to eat a little of this and a bite of that, or a bunch of something else. I have become the ultimate food pusher. I don't want to give up baking, but I'm not eating much of that stuff any more, so I send it work with Michael, I let him eat it, I take it to my office or to book club. Anything to have it out of the house. I still have about a dozen scones left (should have given out more at book club!), so they're becoming part of my gift for the gift swap. Hope she likes 'em!

Michael is loving the new job and I am loving the new him! He has so much more energy from getting an extra hour and a half of sleep that I fear I may not be able to keep up with him a whole lot longer. He rolls out of bed ready to take on the world, and comes home with a grin on his face. He keeps saying, "I made a good decision, Susan." And I believe he has. I think he likes the Marines way of doing things. You say, "Joe, I want a cup of coffee" and two seconds later, you have a cup of coffee. There's no taking it to the committee, discussing for days the various coffee additives, and what you might have meant. There's just coffee. That certainly appeals to his no-nonsense side.

As for me, we have two exciting new retail businesses opening here soon and I am strongly considering trying to get myself hired at either one. We are getting a Barnes & Noble here, and I'd love to work there doing something other than stocking and selling. I'll have to check their job listings to see if maybe they need an event planner or something like that. The other is Wegman's, which is opening in June. I really would like to open a decent bakery here in town, and I really don't know the first thing about it. So I thought if I could get myself hired on at the Wegman's bakery, which is a real bakery, not a fakery like the grocery store, then I could learn tons about what goes into it and would probably wind up forgetting all about the dreams of working there. I asked the General, "Would you still love me if I quit my good job and went to work at a grocery store?" and he said, "I'd still love you even if you were just bagging groceries at the grocery store." Awww. What a guy.

So that's the news from here. I hear him in the shower, so I'm going to get myself dressed and ready to roll for the day's tasks. Hope everyone's having a fun weekend!

Christmas, Slowly But Surely

Well, tis the season, and slowly but surely, the General and I are getting it done. Last weekend we got out the decorations that we put up around the house and set up the nativity sets, hung the stockings, and put other little things around. We don't put up a tree till late, but I just heard on the radio that a local place has fresh cut Christmas trees, so I think we may skip our annual Home Depot trip and try there this year. Our tree last year was beautiful, but it was so dry it left a trail of needles on the floor when we brought it in.

Last night we sat down in two separate stretches and did up all our Christmas cards. This is in stark contrast to the last two years when I said, "Ok, we're not doing them, the heck with it." But I guess maybe more people feel that way this year, since we've only gotten two cards so far ourselves. Or else people just decided not to send us any!

I've been butt-kicking busy at work and have so many to-do's at home, I don't know if I'm coming or going. Today, if I do nothing else, I absolutely HAVE to get to the post office, so as soon as the General leaves for work, in about 30 minutes, I'll get dressed and get that done.

We still haven't done any Christmas shopping, although this year I expect it will be much lighter than usual given the economy. I had grand plans of sending lots of people flowers to show my appreciation for their support this year, but that has gone out the window in light of the current times. So please know, everyone, that if you were around for me this year in any capacity, I'd have sent you flowers if I could. I'll just send you all my love and a big cyber-hug instead. Small consolation, I know.

My book club had its little holiday gift swap on Monday. The girls all chipped in and got me the new WW Momentum cookbook, which I've been reading over voraciously and can't wait to try! (Thanks, ladies, again! Book club makes Mondays tolerable :-D) My gift swap buddy also got me a Women and Reading appointment calendar from the MFA in Boston. I have plans for this little calendar already.

This weekend will be spent shopping and wrapping gifts, so we can get that done, and my WW strategy for dealing with cookies and goodies is to A) cut way back on what we usually do and b) bake them the weekend of the 19th so that when my family all arrives on the 22nd, they can eat them, and I won't. We'll see if that works. I'm hopeful!

I've gotten 3 new holiday CD's this year and they've definitely gotten their playing time. As previously mentioned, I picked up the Straight No Chaser CD back in November and was THRILLED to be able to play it finally the day after Thanksgiving. It's in my car, and I'm really enjoying it whenever I'm out and about. The General also generously got me Faith Hill's Christmas CD, which is not as country as one might imagine. She has a gorgeous singing voice and the CD is very, very good. As is Kristin Chenowith's CD. I love her on Pushing Daisies, and the CD showcases her trademark wit and spunk.

So, slowly but surely, we're getting it done. Christmas is coming and no help for it. Hope everyone else's holiday plans are going well and no one is feeling the stress.

Wolf Trap, And a Note To Myself

Yesterday was the annual Wolf Trap Holiday Sing-a-Long. I have gone for the past 4 years, and it is a holiday tradition I have come to love and enjoy. Because you are sitting outside, it is important to bundle up, as it is cold here in December, and one doesn't want to freeze one's heiny off.

We drove up yesterday, making a quick swing through Quantico to find out where the HR office is, and then picked Melissa up at our favorite pizza place in Woodbridge, where she was leaving her car. As I was driving north, I noticed the car was kind of rocking and swerving a little bit, so I was thinking I needed some air in the tires or something, despite the fact that they are brand spankin' new.

I flipped on the local news station to get a traffic and weather report so we could plan how we were going to drive to Vienna. And there was a high wind advisory. The wind was blowing 45-50MPH, which is why the car was rocking. It was also approximately 35 degrees outside, before the wind chill set in.

But we are brave, intrepid, loyal citizens of this event. Last year, it was in the 40's and pouring, and we were damn cold. So we felt we could brave the wind and the cold this year. Heck, it wasn't damp too!

No matter where he goes, the honeys follow


Aren't we cute?


Well, about halfway through the sing-a-long, I turned to The General and Melissa and said, "Let's blow this popsicle stand." It was freakin' cold. People were leaving by the dozens. Even on stage, you could tell that they were cutting the program short. As we turned to walk back up the hill to our car, the seats and lawn were empty, which is particularly unusual. It was just that cold. My nose was running, my eyes were watering, my hands hurt through my thinsulate gloves, and my toes were numb despite the fact that I actually wore real socks and real shoes. I had on three layers of clothing on top, and Melissa came loaded for bear with about 6 layers on and she was still cold. The only thing keeping us remotely warm was The General (who we strategically sat between us), and even he confessed that he was getting cold.


Don't they look cold?

I was a bit sad that we weren't able to stick it out--I love the candlelight processional, but frankly, for strolling around in the dark with a candle and singing Christmas carols, I can do that at home. (Might get funny looks from the neighbors, but who cares about them anyway?)

So we went and ate Thomas's pizza. Let's get our priorities straight here--there's freezing our butts off and then there's food. If you are ever in New York, and you want real New York style pizza, go to Thomas's. They have, bar none, the best pizza I've eaten outside the city. They are 1972 Daniel Stuart Square. I'm a New Yorker and inclined to be snotty about pizza, which is my God given right, and this place just knocks my socks off.



And somehow, the General and I found the strength to come home and do our full workouts as well, which REALLY helped us get warmed up. I had to, I ate 3 pieces of pizza. He didn't have to, but he did anyway, like a good sport.

So sadly, we left early for the first time, breaking new ground in an old tradition. I'll be back up there next December for the sing-along, and I hope to heck that I won't have to leave early then. I've crafted a note to myself about how to prepare:

Dear Self:

If you are dumb enough to go to Wolf Trap again in the midst of a howling maelstrom of wind and cold, and I think you and I both know that you are, here is a rudimentary list of things to bring with you so that you can survive the entire show:

* Many, many more layers of clothing--remember, as you lose weight, you are no longer as well insulated as you used to be. Save some of your big clothes and layer them on top of your smaller clothes. You will thank me for this later.

* Blankets. 2 per person. One for putting on the chairs before you each sit and one for huddling under. You might want to upgrade to 3 so that you can wrap one around your legs. Or consider the down comforter so you can snuggle up with your honey under there and conspire. Just remember, it's a family show ;-)

* Get yourself a good thermos, a great big one, and fill it with hot cocoa. I can't believe you were such a dumbass this year and spent $9.00 on three little cups of tepid water that were billed as cocoa. Invest in a decent thermos, cook up some awesome cocoa, and bring it. You and your guests will thank me.

* Turn your little cooler into a warmer and stock it with warm appetizers. Nothing major, maybe a warm dip like artichoke dip, and some pigs in blankets or stuffed mushroms. Make it warm, whatever it is, and just enough to keep you going until you hit next year's dinner spot.

* You will need to invest in ear muffs or one of those headband thingies. You should also purchase heat packs for your gloves and feet.

Ok, if you follow these simple suggestions, you should be smarter than you were in 2008 and a lot more comfortable.

Sincerely,
Your Sensible Self

Little T Thankful

I was reading a friend's blog about the little things in life that we can be thankful for and how those often make life worth living. It was tumultous, emotional, and in many ways challenging Thanksgiving for me, but there are so many little things I am thankful for, and I sat and thought about them a bit and it made me smile.

For instance, I'm thankful I have my old license plates here, hanging on my bulletin board. I will never get my grandfather's mercury back, but I'll always have these plates.

I'm also thankful for:

* Loving to read
* Pasta (yes, Emma, I'm with you on 'pasketti')
* Sunlight
* Cherry Coke Zero
* The Holiday and Love Actually
* Our fluffy down comforter
* Email
* Singing
* Wegman's
* Cat naps
* My favorite web links
* The Wii
* Peanut butter cups

And a bazillion other things, both big and small.

This Year's Inspired Halloween Costumes

Every year, my Halloween partying friends post beautiful pictures of themselves dressed to the 9's in fabulous costumes with wonderful make up and clever themes to their costumes.

The General and I don't have time for that. We want quick and easy, down and dirty, and most importantly, cheap.

This year, however, costuming was important due to the Melting Pot's 25 dollar "gift card" (really a coupon) if you showed up dressed in costume.

I really sweated what we should go as, and I think you will agree I made the correct decision.



What the hell are we, you ask?

Paper or Plastic.

I only hope I get away as quick and cheap next year.

Mark Your Calendar Again, Sweeties

This year's annual Holiday Sing-a-Long at Wolf Trap is Sunday, December 7th. Sometimes they collect for Toys for Tots and sometimes for a food bank, so I'll keep you posted on which it'll be.

However, I'll be there, literally with bells on. And of course, we go for pizza afterwards. Hope to see you there!

Fall Fun Festival Pictures

Pumpkin cookies


Corn in the Corn Maze


A pumpkin in the pumpkin patch


Melissa, Michael, and the 25 pound Pumpkin of Death


Judy and Lucas carving pumpkins


All the jack-o-lanterns, carved to perfection


Mini pumpkin cakes with a jack-o-lantern

Our Jack-O-Lanterns All Lit Up

If I had to pick one thing I love about fall, it'd be carving pumpkins. We sat around last night and just watched them glow for nearly an hour. It was so soothing and relaxing--me and my honey and the candlelight.

Kosior Fall Fun Festival 2.0

So this weekend was the 2nd Annual Kosior Fall Fun Festival. Of course, it poured all day on Saturday, so the outdoor festivities had to be postponed. However, we made the best of it.

Judy and Lucas came down Friday evening, for what Lucas has determined is their last trip till after D. is born. Because NaNo starts this weekend, I won't be traveling up there on weekends, so it should be quiet.

We had dinner and sat around chatting and planning for an unplanned rainy day. We decided to do some baking. I had found directions for making little mini pumpkin cakes, plus one of the girls from my book club made some delicious pumpkin cookies and sent me the recipe, plus Melissa had brought some pumpkin pie fudge over 2 weekends ago, plus we always make a batch of my mom's donuts every fall. So that was the plan.

Saturday morning, we got moving and did the shopping (got all my book club goodies too, so ladies, be ready!), then came back and baked all day. When I say that we baked all day, what I really mean is that Judy baked all day. I acted as more of a gopher, grabbing ingredients and letting her do all the hard work. This appears to be part of her "nesting" as my sister has never been particularly domestic, nor has she ever shown the slightest inclination towards baking.

Everything came out great and the kitchen smelled SO GOOD. And I managed to keep it clean. I love baking and making a big mess, but to me, the ultimate accomplishment is doing all that AND still managing to come downstairs to a clean kitchen in the morning regardless.

Somehow during the day, we all got into a big debate about what our favorite Billy Joel song was, so we wound up singing along to Billy Joel CDs all afternoon as well.

Sunday morning, we ate donuts and played Yahtzee, and then Melissa came by and we went to Belvedere Plantation for their fall festival, just as we did last year. We did only one trail of the corn maze this year--Lucas's orders that Judy was not going to give birth in a cornfield (not that I considered this a problem). It was fun, but due to all the crappy weather, a lot of the corn had been trampled down and so it was pretty easy to see where you were going. I don't think their heart was really in it, I think they were just humoring me, so I was disappointed, but oh well. At least we did part of it.

Afterwards, we took in the pig races, which was real cute. Those pigs were so funny running around the little track. Our section's pig won the last two races, which felt so good, considering our first pig got out of the gate, thought better of the whole thing, and started running back the way he came. But he got the hang of it and finished dead last by about 15 seconds. So cute!

Then we took the hayride to the pumpkin patch and picked pumpkins. I don't do anything halfway--I wanted PUMPKINS. I found a real nice specimen, so I grabbed him for the General and then found a second one that looked quite nice as well. It was all I could do to stagger back to the haywagon with those things, but finally I was able to, and we got back to the main part of the farm and got a wheelbarrow for all of us to tuck our pumpkins in. I noted at that time that my wrist was feeling a bit funny, but I figured it was just because the pumpkins were awkward--the big one didn't have much of a stem.

After a nice snack of kettlecorn and apple cider slushies, we checked out. My big pumpkin weighed in at 25 pounds!!!! The littler one was a respectable 17 pounds! That is a lot of pumpkin to be hauling. I wound up pulling the car up, because my arm was really hurting by then, and it turned out I managed to pull a muscle in my left arm. Go figure.

We got home and the General came downstairs, flush with a Patriots victory. I started cleaning out the big pumpkin, thinking that it would be much lighter to carry afterwards. WRONG! That sucker had walls at least 2 inches thick! It took me a good while to hack through it and even a good while longer to clean it out. There were pumpkin seeds everywhere--we all had good sized pumpkins. It was crazy.

The General wanted his pumpkin to look "surprised" or "frightened"--I can't remember which and looking at the pumpkin now, it looks both surprised and frightened--so I did a passable job (I think anyway) of making the pumpkin look that way. Then I got to cleaning out my pumpkin, which I wound up letting Lucas carve because I was wiped out after cleaning that sucker out. It is a traditional smiling jack-o-lantern, with triangle eyes and a smiling mouth full of teeth.

Both pumpkins came out great.

And then it was time to pack up and head out. The great "Big Broadcast" Halloween spectacular was going to come on, so we wanted to haul ass to a spot where there was good reception before it came on--which is all of about 6 miles from the house.

Got back to Judy and Lucas's, and he must have been feeling his oats, because he said he felt the decorating choices were a bit "ghetto". So we worked on getting the artwork re-hung, and then Judy and I put the bedding that Michael and I had bought D. into the crib. Judy got kind of sappy at that point, saying she knew it had been hard and she wished she could have made it easier, but I pretty well had to cut her off because any type of talk like that gets me supremely pissed off and I was having a nice time. So we just let it go. I let her know that due to NaNoWriMo and then D's arrival, this would be my last night up there except for staff meeting days, which she seemed OK with. And then it was bed time.

So that was this year's fall fun festival. I'll try to get some pictures up soon for everyone to see the pumpkins, which all came out really, really cute. I took my half of the goodies to work yesterday for a little party, and it was gone in no time. Everyone absolutely loved all of it. The fudge was gone before lunch, and the cookies were gone in no time as well. I left the cake there when I left, so I'm not sure what happened with them, but I'm willing to bet they didn't last too long either!

Mark Your Calendar, Sweeties

The date of the 2nd Annual Kosior Fall Fun Festival is October 25th. We'll go out to Belvidere for the corn maze, hay ride, kettle corn, etc., carve pumpkins and make donuts and drink cider at home, and whatever else suits our fancy...

Be there or be square.

If you want to read about last year's fall fun festival, click HERE. The above picture was the pumpkins we made last year. You can see more pictures HERE.