Last Post For 2009

I can't believe it's going to be 2010!! The second decade of the 21st century already! Seems like just yesterday we were all worried about Y2K!!!

Here's what's left of my pretty Christmas globe the I just bought:



It didn't fall..just tipped over and hit our rock hard quartz counter top and that was all she wrote! I was at work but Rich said there was water and glitter all over the place!! Oh well, it still looks OK enough! At least I don't have to worry about it breaking anymore!

I am off work today for a 4-day weekend. Love it! I talked to my supervisor yesterday about working 32 hours, or 4 days a week and she said that she will talk to a couple people and see if she can work it out for me! Woo hoo! That would be awesome. Having a extra day off every week will make a huge difference in how I feel and how much stuff I can get done! And even though it will mean a smaller paycheck, I will adjust my lifestyle accordingly!

Tonight we are going to my brothers for a little New Years get together. Have a few drinks, eat some good food and just relax and have a good time!

Here's our pretty-girl Zoe again, looking intently at a squirrel.



May you all have a blessed and wonderful New Year!

Ahhhhh....

Man, I am glad that this holiday is over. It was tough for me to get into the spirit the whole time. Shopping, decorating, cooking, wrapping, no matter what I was doing, I was not into it! The only thing I enjoyed was the visiting part, which is probably the part you are supposed to enjoy the most! Anyway, I am glad it over for now!

We went to my brothers on Christmas Eve. On Christmas day we visited with my MIL in the nursing home. Then later we went to the show and saw Avitar. It was pretty good but the best part was the 3D. I can't remember the last time I saw a 3D movie. I think the glasses were cardboard things. This time the were actual plastic glasses, looked like sunglasses. Anyway, the 3D effects were pretty good.

Yesterday we had the kids over for Christmas. It worked out very well for all of us. They were able to stay for a long time and we took our time eating and opening gifts.

Sunday I did some after Christmas bargain shopping. I didn't really want to buy any Christmas stuff but I did get this




Shauna and I were looking at them last week but thought they were too expensive. Now they were 50% off so I picked one up for each of us!

That's pretty much it for my holiday. I only work 3 days this week. Love those short weeks!

Countdown

Well, two more days to Christmas and I am pretty much done with everything. Just got some wrapping yet to do and a couple gift cards to get..and that's it.

Had company for dinner on Saturday. I am finished with the entertaining for at least a year, I think. I enjoy having company but preparing a house with six cats for company is a monumental undertaking! We had a good time though!

Sunday I made cookies. Here's another thing that I am done with. I never really had the patience to make cookies so I never really did a good job of it. I've decided that from now on I will stick to cakes or bars or pies or anything easy, but no more cookies.

I have to work on Christmas Eve but hopefully will get off early. The next week I am off on New Years Eve for a 4-day weekend.



Zoe just wants to be left alone to lay under the Christmas tree all day!

Hump Day Except It's Not!

It's Wednesday but actually my Thursday because I am off Friday. I plan on doing some baking in the morning, and then shopping and lunch with Shauna in the afternoon. I will definitely get my shopping done even though at this moment I have no clue what to buy!!

My neighborhood looks nice with all the lights on all the houses. I took this picture a few nights ago out the window. I thought the reflection of the lights on the blinds in the window looked pretty interesting!



There are more houses with lights this year than I thought there would be. I figured the economy and all. Probably the nice weather we had a few weeks ago spurred people on to put lights up! Good thing, because it's not so nice now! Cold and getting colder!!

Saturday we are having Chris's mother-in-law and her husband over for dinner. I know, aren't we the entertaining fools lately? Anyway, Carmen is a wine drinker so I bought stemless wine glasses for that reason! I wanted them anyway for my occasional 1/2 of a beer that I drink. I still have no idea what to cook for them! Anyway, it will be fun. She's a character and we always enjoy her company!

Friday, How I Love Thee!

It's Friday and that's a good thing!

So last week we took Chris and Marissa to dinner to at P.F. Chang's to celebrate their 4th wedding anniversary. We had a good time, service and food was very good. Anyway, a few days ago I was looking at my bank account online and I noticed that the charge for that night was minus the tip that we had added onto the bill. I just happened to still have the receipt in my purse so when I looked at it, I realized that I had added the tip, signed the bill and then proceeded to take both copies with me when I left! So no tip for the server! I believe I had ringing ears all night from being cussed out by the server for stiffing her! I have never been a waitress but I know that they depend on their tips and the service was certainly good enough! I felt really bad so I put $10 in a envelope with her name on it and Rich dropped it off at the restaurant next time he was driving that way.

This weekend Rich's sisters and their spouses are coming over and we are all going to dinner.

We eat out a lot apparently!!

Work is slowing down for the holidays now. My favorite time to work here is between Christmas and New Years. There's nobody around, no lines in the cafeteria, easy parking and empty hallways. When you work in a huge hospital like I do it's always crowded so it's a nice change!!

I took next Friday off to make cookies and go shopping with Shauna. Woo hoo!

Can't wait! Anyway, time to go cruise Amazon.com and see if there is anything I need!

Have a great weekend, all!

Sunday

I finally finished the Christmas decorating on Thursday night, with Rich's help. It was nagging at me and I hate that. I finally decided to just get it done no matter how tired I was and what was on TV! I think the effort was worth it.

I love these little guys. They actualy stay on our fireplace all winter.













Tonight we had Mark and Barb, our old neighbors from when we live in Redford over for dinner. We actually had an alterior motive...our furnace needs to be replaced and Mark is in heating and cooling. He can get us a furnace at cost and install it for a lot less. He measured for it and will be installing it the first week in January. It is still working and hopefully will hang on for a few more weeks. We had them over for dinner and I got to use my Christmas dishes for the first time this year!




Speaking of our old house in Redford, seems that it is empty and about to be foreclosed on. I can't wait for it to go up for sale. I'm dying to see the inside. I know that they made some improvements, but really we lived there for 21 years, raised our two kids there and I have a lot of sentiment for that house. I really missed it for a few months after we moved. Why did we move? The kids were bigger and we needed more room for them, the neighborhood wasn't all that great and we wanted more storage space (no basement), plus I was tired of living on a dirt road! However, that was 10 years ago, the kids are living on their own now and Rich and I could probably live in that house just fine! Plus they paved the streets a few years ago!

Got my Christmas shopping about 50% done. I bought the things that I knew I was going to be getting. Now the rest is just impulse buys! And today I wrapped everything.

Tomorrow is Monday and back to work I go! Have a great week, all!

You Know What Day It Is

Thanksgiving was wonderful with a house full of people and a big long table in the living-dining room! It's a lot of work and I was exhausted, but it was worth every minute of it!



Slowly but surely the house is getting decorated for Christmas. In the past I have always made the day after Thanksgiving my official decorating day. I started that tradition when the kids were young to give them something to do on their school break. Kept it up for quite a few years, too. But the kids are grown and we are empty nesters, so the past few years I have been spreading the decorating over a few days. This year is the first year that I did not put anything up on the day after Thanksgiving and didn't even put the trees up until Sunday! I still have several boxes that I haven't even brought up from the basement. Slacker!

I love my Christmas tree and so does Max!



I've got my Christmas shopping about 50% done. A lot of it was online, although I did venture out on Sunday for a few hours. Years ago the stores would have been packed on a weekend, but not so much now. Makes it a lot easier to shop, but rather sad, too. This economy is taking it's toll everywhere.

Anyway, two more work days left till the weekend!