A Quiet New Year

Let me start by saying - Happy New Year to all!  I can not believe that 2010 is drawing to a close.  These years sure fly by faster each year!  I wonder if that means I am getting old?  I hope not!

Mr. Fixit and I are having a quiet New Year's Eve - at home.  He is a bit under the weather, and it makes me sad to see him not feeling his usual peppy self.  So we will not be heading out to any festivities this evening, which might not be such a bad thing, because the evening news said it was -11 out there tonight!  That does include the windchill, and simply is way too cold for any fun outside!

So, Mr. Fixit is resting and I am blogging and snacking on some of my Mom's delicious gingerbread cookies.  Yum!  The holiday season is simply complete with gingerbread cookies!  May your New Year be filled with blessed surprises, good health and fantastic memories!

The Bathen

Well, home improvement -- aka -- house construction is still continuing, but at a slightly slower pace! Some of the detail work is left, such as painting touch ups, trim, window treatments, wall decorating, etc.  One of the major, in process projects, is the master bathroom.

Mr. Fixit is converting the old kitchen, which happens to be right next to our bedroom -- into our master bathroom.  He is utilizing the old kitchen counter as the new bathroom vanity.  A toilet will be installed in the place of the old stove, and a shower will now be located where the old fridge was before.  So, a nice little transformation is in process!

I like to call the current room the "bathen," since the kitchen is being converted into a bathroom!  Here is a photo of the in process room.  This is the next project on the priority list, so it will soon be changing!

Nieces and Nephews

Christmas Day just seems to fly by way too quickly!  Mom hosted Christmas lunch, dinner aka the noon meal.  This created some confusion for one of my brother-in-laws as he thought dinner meant the evening meal!  Anyway, all were present for the delicious food.

Mr. Fixit and I drove in that morning.  I played bells for midnight Mass the night before, which gave us a bedtime of about 1:00 a.m.  So, I set the alarm for 7:30 a.m. and we hit the road about 8:45 a.m.  We made it to our destination at 11:30 on the nose.  Nearly all my sisters and their families were present.

I thought since the kids were clean, not yet cranky from a lack of naps, and not fighting over toys - yet - that it would be a great time to snap a photo!  Here is the crew - 4 nieces and 2 nephews.  They were ready for a day of fun with each other.  Hope yours was filled with family fun too!

Christmas Cookies

One of my favorite things to do is make sugar cookies!  Ok, so my favorite part of the whole process is really the decorating part.  It really is the most fun - except when you have to do like 900 cookies at one time!  Flashback memories of the wedding!

Anyway, I could not think of a better way to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas than to show a photo of one pan of decorated cookies.  How I really wish that I could deliver a taste of the cookies to you, but my internet technology is not yet there, so enjoy the photo - you must!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Dentist

A friend of mine had a baby, so I thought I would take some gifts to her, the "big sisters" and of course the new little one.  When I arrived, I received the full recount of the day's happenings -- that is what I love about young kids -- they will also share a story =).

I was told by the oldest, that the sisters had morning dental appointments.  Then oldest shared that she got to pick something out of the treasure box - a beautiful blue "diamond" ring.  She then preceded to tell me that her younger sis did not get to pick anything out of the treasure box.

If fact, she said, "She would not even open her mouth one bit!"  "So, since she did not show her teeth to the dentist, she did not get to pick anything out of the treasure box, only I did!"

I couldn't resist inquiring of the younger sis why she did not want to share her teeth with the dentist.  To which she replied, "I just didn't want to!"  I said, "Well, maybe next time, right?"  I then thought, oh, the adventures of life when one is three!

Holiday Cards

One of my all time favorite things of Christmas is the cards!  I just love getting the mail in December.  The probability of Christmas cards is super fantastic on each day!  I love sending cards so much, that I scope out my cards after Christmas the year before.  This is usually my one and only day-after-Christmas purchase.  After all, I want to be prepared for the next year!

This year, I decided, it was time for a new Christmas card beginning.  A new beginning of the list, you see.  So, I went through our wedding list, and shaved it down to about 90 names.  Believe it or not, this was less than what I had sent year's prior, and this was after I added Mr. Fixit's family to the list!  So, hard as it was, I trimmed.  My goal was around 100.

Well, after we both checked the list, and made sure all our names were on it, the list continued to grow.  You see, each day brought a new round of cards in the mail, emails and requests for our address.  I thought, oh no!  They are going to send us a card, and I took them off of the list this year!  So, now I am sending out more Christmas cards each day.  Luckily, I have plenty waiting to be mailed.  I honestly can't tell you how many the list has on it now.

So, I stand by what I said at the beginning of this post.  I love sending Christmas greetings, and I hope that everyone loves to receive them just as much as I enjoy sending them!

Recovery Mode

I had three very awesome social opportunities for my Saturday:

1 - My very-long-time-good friend's holiday open house, in conjunction with the neighborhood luminaries.
2 - A past co-worker's wedding.
3 - Mr. Fixit's family Christmas!

The decision was to head to Mr. Fixit's family Christmas.  We were excited - and ready.  I had the cookies baked, and ready to decorate.  Yummy!  We had the pile of goodies started for the trek north.

Then Friday night, the plans all changed.  It appears that it is possible to get the stomach flu and a cold at the very same time.  Yikes, what a crazy time.  So, I stayed home and Mr. Fixit participated in all the family festivities.

So, my weekend was spent in recovery mode.  I, therefore, send well wishes your way, and here is to a healthy, happy holiday season to all of you!

Gingerbread Construction

I really, and truly can not believe that the weekend is here -- again!  This week was simply a whirlwind, and I am not really sure how it all could have happened!  It was a busy week, and I am quite certainly tired from all the excitement.

One of this week's many projects was the Gingerbread Cottage workshop.  I had 24 students (grades 2-4) participate in this week's adventure.  Each student had $1 to spend on their candy decorations at the "candy shop."  A few bites were devoured, instead of utilized in the decorating plan, but all in all, this was an excellent group of builders!

A great group of high school National Honor Society students came to serve as "elves" for the workshop.  They were greatly appreciated, and 24 students went home with fantastically decorated houses!

Before the workshop began, the "candy shop" was ready for business.  Now all we needed was the little builders!

A Quilt

Mr. Fixit and I were blessed with some very special wedding gifts. We have been patiently waiting to unpack and use each and every one -- until the house construction project has been completed.  So, this weekend, my parents came to visit, and I decided that the spare bed needed an extra added warmth factor!

I dashed down to the basement and pulled my Aunt Joyce's quilt from the pool table gift pile.  I have so been looking forward to unpacking and using this gift!  The quilt is light yellow, white and a fun sage green with a beautiful blue trim.

It is perfect in our yellow guest room, and really matches the blue and white pinstripe bedding too.  Here is a snap -- complete with sunlight reflection on the bed -- to show how beautiful this quilt is!  Enjoy!

Living Room - Ready for Living!

The sheetrock crew FINALLY came through!!  They came last week Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  Everything living room sheetrock related is finished, so Mr. Fixit decided to jump right into painting.  We figured since everything was still covered in plastic, why not?

So, the color that I chose was a chocolate color of brown.  It has a slight tint of red in it.  I thought the reddish brown would be a fun compliment to Mr. Fixit's furniture.  The room is quite large too, so a dark color was not so bold in the space.

The first coat is done!  The furniture has been uncovered, and we are enjoying our living room, once again!  Mr. Fixit moved the Christmas tree upstairs and we have unearthed some other decorations as well.  I can't think of a better Christmas present, than a finished living room!

Diabetic Dog?

In my world of work, sometimes the questions are one-of-a-kind!  Thursday was such an example.  You see, one of my co-workers is currently counseling Seniors regarding Medicare plans.  It is quite helpful to this population, because there are many plan options, and navigating them can be quite mind boggling.

Well, the office was light on folks on Thursday.  Two other co-workers and myself were manning the phones and the walk in traffic.  One of the callers, after scheduled for her Medicare appointment, asked if her diabetic dog could also be placed on her Medicare plan.  After all, the dog was a part of her household, and the monthly $50 insulin charge was certainly a financial hardship for her.  Oh my!

We all agreed that a dog could not be considered part of the Medicare plan, and that we were also quite certain that dog insulin was likely not an approved medication for the plan coverage.  It was not what the customer wanted to hear, but what can one do?  Maybe there is dog health insurance?  Needless to say, what a story to tell the absent co-worker on Monday!

Winter Run

The weather outside was . . not frightful, and the sun was . . . quite delightful, so since it was a beautiful day - let us run, let us run, let us run!!

Actually, it was about twenty some degrees yesterday, and the wind was rather calm, so it wasn't a bad day for a run.  I decided to do a 5K called the Winter Runderland.  A 5K is 3.1 miles, so not too bad.  I ran it in 30:56.  I was pleased with the time, but so did not think the hills in the first 2 miles were that fun at all.  Every turn brought another hill.  I stuck with it though, and made it through.

Mr. Fixit was a a total trooper!  He was the best supporter ever!  He was at the finish ready to take a picture.  He did say that I, along with the other 100 runners or so, were rather crazy, but he was there to greet me with a big smile when I finished!

I think this is the end of my race season for awhile, but I do hope to keep jogging a bit.  I think I might have to move the exercise program indoors, as morning lows of 14 are simply too chilly for my favorite 6 a.m. runs!

Putting on a Party

The sun was shining and the weather was 56 degrees on December 3 -- the perfect evening for a holiday party!  When I last left you all with the house project, a pile of plastic covered furniture greeted visitors as they entered our living room door.  Well, this was the same scene until Wednesday.

I arrived home Wednesday evening to see that the sheetrock had been hung, a coat of mud applied and white chalk dust remnants to prove it.  Alright, progress is being made!

The crew returned to some sanding and another coat of mud on Thursday.  Sheetrock application is a multiple day project.  The the mud needs to dry before the sanding can occur, and then another coat applied.  So, there is some wait time involved.

Friday arrived, and the living room looked like one of those eraser cleaning machines exploded.  I worked half a day, and came home to jump into cleaning.  I dusted every horizontal surface possible, mopped some floors, gave the bathroom a good clean, wrapped a couple of gifts and unpacked some Christmas decor.  Mr. Fixit arrived home, and we tackled the living room.  We were ready for guests at about 6:00 p.m.  The first arrived at 6:14 p.m. =)

The party was a success, and I am enjoying our living room furniture once again!  Until Monday, when everything will be de-decorated, covered and construction will commence once more!

Sisters

I was born into a family with 5 sisters, so that means my parents had 6 girls.  I simply did not have a brother.  I always wanted a brother, and my sister #2 and I both thought it would be perfectly satisfactory to trade the last baby girl, sister #5, for a brother.  We even told my poor Mother this, on the very day she brought her home from the hospital!  Now as I think about this with an adult mind, I wonder how Mom ever did survive!

We all were also quite close in age.  About a year, or at most, 2 years in between in of us.  As the oldest, I was 7 years older than my youngest sister.  Which, looking back, did work to my advantage, as I was able to take her for show-n-tell in second grade!

Anyway, here is a shot with sister #3 (on the left) and sister #2 (on the right).  I even thought it was especially nice that we all wore blue that day!