Getting a Jump on My "Thankful For" List

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. So much so, that Michael and I were married Thanksgiving weekend. I love that it is a day to show your apprecation for others without gifts. It is a day of good food (Sweet Potatoes, Turkey, Ham, Rolls, Pie! YUM!) and family.This year I've decided to get a jump on my "Thankful-For" list with my Friends.

I'm so very thankful for all of my wonderful friends. This was a hard year and I appreciate all that my friends have done for me. From listening to sobbing phone calls, to sending flowers, to hosting a baby shower for me and the little bird to chatting over a cup of tea. Old friends and new friends, they all mean so much to me.
So thank-you for letting me be apart of your life and for being a part of mine. I am so thankful for our friendship.

And if you thought you might be included in my group of friends, don't worry you are. The list is long and if I wasn't afraid I'd leave someone off I would share them all. Cheers to you!

Thinking about the Holidays...

Did you realize that it is already November 11th?! That's almost halfway through November. Our anniversary is coming up quickly, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas! Wow. This year has gone by so, so fast. I think carrying around this little guy has helped it speed along. (He'll be here in 90some days)
So I'm starting to think about the holidays and what we will do to celebrate this year. I have no desire to put up any of our holiday decorations. Michael brought up our autumn decor - normally my favorite. But it has just sat out for weeks because I really don't want it out. It seems I have no time for clutter right now, even cute autumnal clutter.
I've begun knitting scarves for people for Christmas and I think I'll do a baby hat or two for the cute baby girls in my life, Miss L who will be 10 months old for Christmas and Miss A who was just born last week. Our little guy will have his pick of sassy older women it seems :)
I may also make some blankets and rice packs (you can put them in the freezer when you need a cold pack, or heat them up in the microwave when you need something hot). We use our rice packs all of the time.
Just thinking about the Holidays this years fills me with joy and sadness. The world is in such bad shape right now. There are tons of lay-offs in this area and all we can do it hope to hold on to the jobs that we have and hope that same for our family and friends. But there is always joy, this little one is proof of that and I'm looking forward to looking into his eyes in February.

Getting those resolutions in order

I'm not a big New Year's resolution person. I like to make lists, but resolutions are often a great big failure. So instead of resolutions I'm going to make a list of hopes. Here is a start:
1) That we will get the gardenlaid out in the backyard. Beds of flowers, herbs and veggies.
2) That we will continue to have good health and jobs.

We survived another Christmas!

Well it's the 26th, the house is covered in piles of gifts and wrapping and once again I'm glad it only come around once a year.
Actually this was a really nice Christmas, filled with Family, Friends and Dance, Dance, Revolution (Max 2).

And they said it couldn't be done.

We finally cleaned the guest room!

That's right...it's clean...and awesome.

The furniture has been rearranged and the room looks much bigger. We also rearranged the office, cleaned and reordered the basement and cleaned the garage. All in all we cleared out about a dozen bags and boxes of things to take to the Goodwill and filled 2 giant trash bags. Whoo!

I feel so much better with the house clean and de-cluttered. And I sit and drink my hot chocolate in my freshly cleaned office I'm finally feeling Christmas-y. Clearly all it took was to finish the guest room project.

Grinch-er-ific

I'm a Grinch this year. I don't want to shop, the few times I have gone out have been disasters. And I don't really want anyone to shop for me either. I don't really want anything. The only things I do want are for the yard - a fence and some sod. Seriously.
Michael and I have paired down Christmas to the bare minimum too. He's getting a new bathrobe (he knows), I purchased myself some books (which I'll wrap and open on Christmas) and the 1st season of How I Met Your Mother (best show ever) is our combined gift. That's it. The idea of putting anything else into the house just makes me cringe. It could be that I've been struggling with the ever flowing pile of junk that is our guest room. I want things to leave the house, not come it. Also, I've only put up about half the decorations because I just don't want the clutter.

Yeah, I'm a Grinch this year. Sorry.

I do have a car load of non-perishable food to take to the food pantry, and gifts for most of the people on my list, so I'm not a total Grinch, but I'm not Who either.

Happy Birthday Michael

From Mighty Girl's No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog.
Sage Advice:
To choose a spouse, find someone who is flawlessly kind but has an incredibly strong backbone.
See also: Marry him only if you will be proud when your child turns out just like him.

Michael turned 29 yesterday.
He is the kindest man I have ever known, and will always stand up for the things he believes in.
If our children turn out half as good, I will be incredibly proud.

Enjoy the last 364 days of your 20's - I have big plans for your 30's!

Somehow today always catches me off guard

My Dad's birthday is August 26th (er...25th!), I know this and yet every year the 26th (25th) arrives and I am oblivious to it actually being the 26th (25th). It happened again this year.

So Happy Birthday Dad!

Here are ten great things about my dad.

(Yipes, that was worse than I thought. sorry.)

last day of 25

Ever have one of those days when all the balls you've tossed in the air over the past few weeks/months suddenly start to plummet to the ground and try as you might you can't seem to juggle them all any more? Yeah, I'm having that kind of day.
The kind of day that can only be helped by a large glass of wine, a plate full of brownies and an early birthday present that left my hair silky and straight as can be. Thank goodness for near in tears calls to the hubby at 4:30 - by 6:30 when I finally made it home all three were waiting for me - along with a yummy dinner and Dr. Who Netflix (with David Tennent - double yummy).
Over all 25 was a good year - Michal and I were married, I was promoted, I learned how to build an ottoman and knit things that a real person can wear. Many more good things happened this year, but the wine and the sound of balls dropping are it making it all a blur.
So here's to 26 - and the hope of holding it all together again!
Plus I have fabulously straight hair - thanks to the Chi!

UPDATE- It is not a good idea to chase a glass of wine with a glass of milk (from the same wine glass no less). I don't care how much brownies call for milk - it will curdle in your stomach and it feels as gross as it sounds.

Happy Faux Birthday Tricia!

Tonight we went out and celebrated Tricia's birthday. Her birthday is this weekend, but since we all live surprisingly busy lives and we could not get together on the actual day.
So Happy Faux Birthday Tricia! You are a wonderful person, a creative force, a just plain fun girl and a fabulous friend. I'm so glad that you are in my life.
And you need to make me some cupcakes!

The house smells like earth, rich and loamy

We decided that this year instead of buying chintzy valentine's bears or only okay candy we would buy house plants. We needed some greenery and I like the idea of having extra oxygen production in the house. So today we celebrated early by running out and picking out some plants while everyone else was busy watching the Super Bowl. I have never seen the Home Depot so empty.
Then we had our Valentine's Day dinner in a blissfully empty PeiWei (where we had our first dinner as married people - still dressed in our wedding finest). It was nice celebrating early because it is a lot easier to remain pleasant and "love-y" when no one is around. This may be our new Super Bowl tradition. I so love that I married a man who doesn't like football. It means that I don't have to pretend to like it, or put up with wild mood swings when the team he roots for loses. Bliss!

So tonight after dinner we came home and planted things.
I love how the dirt has made the house smell.

Ivy in the teapot on the coat rack shelf in the kitchen.

Ivy and some spiky thing in the living room.

An old mixing bowl full of tulips on the desk in the kitchen.
I love this bowl and holding flowers instead of flour seems right for it.

I think we will have a bloom tomorrow!