Drop the ball!

It's New Year's Eve, at least according to my calendar. It's half past 5, and I'm tired. Perhaps I should nap before heading out to tonight's festivities?? As per past year tradition, I will be spending the waning hours of the year with friends, at a friends house, playing games and watching movies and being generally silly and fun. There will be jibing, and joking, and telling of tales, and this year I'll even get that first kiss just after the bell tolls 12 (I certainly hope, anyway).

I promised to share some of my resolutions in the last post, so here they are:**

• I resolve to keep my desk clean at work, and hide my spoon every night.
  (this is to prevent it from being 'cleaned up' and thus causing me to purloin a new spoon from the cafeteria)
• I resolve to keep my bird feeders full and my feathered friends happy.
• I resolve to make a budget for myself and the house, and stick to it (boring one this, but it has to be done).
• I resolve to get. rid. of. the. ugly. grey. landscaping. rock! It's not really ugly, I just don't want it. Lance says he does, YAY!
• I resolve to hang things on the walls of my house.
• I resolve to clean and organize the shed and the garage, and to get rid of the washer, dryer, and range that are taking up space. (Anyone need an appliance? They are cheap for the asking!)
• I resolve to spend many relaxing and enjoyable hours on my motorcycle in the nice, non- snowy/salty/sandy streeted months
• I resolve to redo the landscaping and plant a veggie garden (this is a multi year resolution!)
• I resolve to hit the softball to the green-grass!
• I resolve to improve my golfing handicap.
• I resolve to eat ice cream whenever possible (we all know that resolving to eat it less will NOT happen!)
• I resolve to renew old frienships, make new ones, and treasure special times.

So, how's that for a list of New Year's resolutions?? I'll have to print those somewhere and put check marks next to them so I don't miss anything. (Yes, I'm a list girl... AND proud of it!)

Happy 2008 everyone. May blessings come your way, and happiness find you often!


**resolutions subject to change without notice, see Tricia for further details

Almost the New Year...

2008. I recall when 2000 was a landmark not yet reached, one where the world might end, where computers might crash and eat the worlds/banks moneys. I lived in WI then. I hadn't truly defined my career path, or myself. That auspicious year came and went, the world did not end nor did all computers and banks eat all the worlds money, and here we are 8 years later...

2007 held some major landmarks in my life.

• I've had a 'permanent, real life, job' for the whole year, no mid semester break and no summer break. Only two weeks off for good behavior. Depressing, that last bit.
• I bought my first house, and have enjoyed the triumphs and dismays of such. Painting, fun but I'll stick with the colors I now have for a while. Water, in the house? Where?! ...SUCK!
• I finally own my own motorcycle, and have so far had a great time riding it, both to work and for fun rides, and for long distance rides (though a new seat for such long rides might be nice).
• A solid, steady, loving relationship.
• Bird Feeders!!! Yes, this is monumental.
• First multi-pitch climb completed (and subsequent rappel.)
  
• Skied the Canadian Rockies (and did not die, or break anything vital, and tried harder things than I thought I could do!)
  

So many other things happened to those close to me; friends have joined in marriage, other friends and relatives are expecting the birth of a wee one sometime next year, still other friends have met someone and fallen in love, and others are off having grand adventures elsewhere in the US/World.

I sat down last week to write my Christmas letter, which I still haven't mailed ...so it's now a Holiday letter, and tried to look back on all I'd done. I'm not amazed the time has flown, we've all filled our time admirably this last year.

I'm finishing up all those things at work that are needed before the end of the year, and it gets me to thinking about next year...both at work and home. What will next year bring? If it's anything like '07 I'll have to take time out to remember to breathe.

Sometimes I think I need to take a vacation day to just sleep and laze about and relax...but that never works out. I'm not sure I need more 'me' time, or more 'relaxing' time. I don't think that will happen. It would be nice to schedule in some quiet time now and again, but looking at the way my life (and that of my close friends) has been the last 2 to 3 years, I think from now until retirement, and maybe not even then, this is the pace we're forced to live at. You make of it what you will. I choose to go with the flow and make every change a positive one, somehow. It's hard, and maybe 'not right' that life has to move at such a rate, given how short a time we all have, but that's the way it is.

As far as 2008 resulutions, I have one - so far. I'll share that after the new year bell tolls. As for an outlook into the future, I'm working on that too. Today is simply to reminisce.

More Christmas-y Stuff

Oof. Yes, oof. I could be Very Minnesotan and say Uff-da but 1. I'm not Minnesotan, and 2. I have no idea how to spell it. Still, it's been a long day no matter how you say/spell it. Work was crazy busy and I sat at my own desk for a grand total of 10 minutes today. Yup. I checked Voice Mail, looked about my desk, and went home at the end of the day.

Last night I put lights on the tree and my decorations. Trev still needs to put on his (he is doing this now). Tonight when I got home from work I helped put up our outside Christmas lights. BRRRRRRRRRR. They look GREAT though. A pick when I get my camera working again.

We're doing secret santa at work, so I had to find and wrap a white elephant present and also I am making gluten free lasagna in the slow cooker for our pot luck tomorrow.

I am very tired, but I still have to pack for GB and wrap presents for the fam, and also finish up w/ the lasagna. It's smells very good and I desire to eat it now, but must refrain myself. Perhaps later I will have the yummy yummy iced cream.

I had my time, now preparations galore

I had a lovely Thanksgiving, though I never wrote about it. There was a lot of driving, but I'm used to it.

We have had almost 10 inches of snow since Thanksgiving, and it looks like we'll have a White Christmas this year after all. YAY!

This past weekend my parents and aunt and uncle came to town, and we got a tree. It's not decorated yet...tonight!

The next two weekends I have to drive to Green Bay. This first weekend -my brother is graduating! Yay! Next weekend for Christmas.

I can't believe it's almost the end of the year - whee! Um. yeah. This is kinda a lame post, but I had to get something online as I hadn't posted for practically a month. Better posts later!