HAPPY NEW YEAR

Hasn't the last month flown by? It has been a great month, really. Just crazy busy! I'm playing catch up blogger here, so pardon the length of this one.... feel free to take it in shifts. (-;

The first week of December, Erika and I hosted the Midtown Ladies' Christmas Brunch. Erika provided the location and some helpers and I did most of the cooking. We also continued last year's tradition of an ornament exchange. What fun! I LOVE our Midtown women. What a GREAT group of gals! Dawn took an amazing picture of us all.... Tere had already gone, but the rest of us are in the photo. Dawn posted the picture on her blog: http://dawndorathy.blogspot.com/ in her December 4th entry.

MMM... yummy. Amie gave me some flavored hot chocolate for part of my Christmas gift. This "morning" - that's early afternoon for the majority of the world- I had a great idea. I used it to make my morning Caribou Bean coffee into a raspberry mocha. Yummy. I think I need to go make another one, because I just finished the first....

The second weekend of December, Ben and I had gotten our Christmas Card order back, so I go those mailed out. We were really pleased with the results. I'll come back and post the scanned image of that once my scanner is up and running....

Third weekend of December was spent with Amie and Sonny. Amie's Ben was out of town for a PT continuing Ed class. The three of us went to Lenox which was NUTS! Every time I do that in December, I remember why I always decide not to do it again.... But is was really fun. Sonny has started a thing were he doesn't really like me so much. Apparently he's associated me with Mommy and Daddy leaving him. )-: He didn't even want me to give him his bath because sometimes Mommy and Daddy "sneak out" then!

Sonny is growing up fast. His vocabulary is huge for a 15 month old, especially a boy of that age. It must be about 20 words-- some of my favorites are "Hi", "puppy"- which is any stuffed animal, "fire truck"- which is any red truck including pick ups, thank you, light, and "more please". He had a new cute one at church yesterday morning, but I've forgotten what it was...

The weekend before Christmas was craziness. Thank goodness the President made an executive order for Federal Employees to be off Christmas Eve. I was really grateful, because I had been scheduled to work! Isn't it crazy how wrapping the few presents you got multiplies? I mean, I felt like I was wrapping forever. And I didn't get that many presents! Anyway, Ben and I also began our "De-clutter" project. We've been recycling old magazines, getting rid of and shredding old bills and statements, choosing books to give away and just trying to get rid of the mounds of clutter in our house. We made a huge dent last weekend. We also moved furniture out of two rooms so the carpets could get cleaned. The intent was that I would use our steam cleaner, but when it wouldn't work we called Stanley Steamer. They came out within a few hours of when we called Christmas Even morning. Now, THAT was impressive.

Christmas was fun. We spent the night at my parents' house, and so did my sister. I hadn't been home on Christmas day since 2003 (aka since before I met Ben) because we'd spent the last 3 Christmases in Iowa with the Greenwalds. In typical Julyan fashion, the number of animals equaled the number of humans. (Our kitties stayed in our room and bathroom, and my sister brought Eve and Zippy, and my parents also have a Corgi named Owen.) Don't get me wrong- I LOVE Christmas at the Greenwalds because there are 6 nieces and nephews and sometimes even snow, and I adore my mother in law and sisters in law, but it was special to be with my family this year! And, boy, do I LOVE my Mom's Christmas dinner... lucky for me, it is just like the Thanksgiving one I missed, except for the dessert. (-:

Our favorite Christmas gifts were a set of 4 cordless phones from Ben’s parents, and an iPhone for me and a Hard Drive and Apple TV for Ben from my parents. You could say we’re gadget freaks... Have you ever watched Callie Lewis on the GeekBrief Podcast? Great stuff!

This weekend we continued the de-clutter project and expanded to the "create a new office/library and move the Guest Room" project. It started with a visit to IKEA. We chose a new desk and new computer workstation (smaller desk). Then Saturday we got all the new furniture put together. Yesterday after church was spent MOVING FURNITURE between the old office and old guest room (actually, some of it was still in the living room from the carpet cleaning move) to the new office and new guest room. In other words, we swapped rooms. Last night, we got everything into its final resting place, and got the guest room set up. It is nicer- there's a bigger window and just guest room furniture now. The office has all of our book cases- which is why I think of it as a Library/Office now. Both computers have a spot, which is another huge improvement. Originally, we thought we'd get rid of my old PC once I adjusted to my iMac, but it comes in handy sometimes, and I just don't want to part with it.

And now, it's time to get back to work. I needed a break- I've truly been working my butt off- but now I need to get my new office set up and organized. I also need to finish "purging" paperwork and books and office junk--- Ben and I both brought lots of stuff in that category to our marriage and we never really combined and purged it all. IT'S TIME!

So, if you refer back to the "office project" I referred to in my blog - you know, like a year ago, and a year and a half ago- I think I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Happy New Year!