Busy busy

Bob started work this week. He really seems to be enjoying it. So he's been working all week, and I'm working, too, of course, and have been so busy. I have a big project that's supposed to be winding up, but doesn't really show any signs of slowing down. I have to have it finished before we go on vacation in three weeks, so there's a lot of pressure. And I have freelance stuff that's going on that needs to be finished, too. So we're both working pretty hard. But that's good, of course!

Today is the third anniversary of my surgery -- I got an email reminder this morning from HysterSisters, the message board where I spent a lot of time in the weeks before. As I went to find that journal link, I saw the quote that I put on the page: "To know the road ahead, ask those coming back," which was certainly appropriate.

I frankly haven't felt any lingering effects or problems at all from the surgery. I feel better -- I no longer have the hip pain that I was having at night, which (whether rightly or wrongly) I attributed to the fibroids (although it could just as easily have been the extra weight I was carrying at the time), I get up less in the night to use the bathroom, etc.

I was worried at the time about whether I would feel differently, but I really don't. Except better, of course. Nothing different except that I feel better physically. Of course, right afterwards it was something of an emotional rollercoaster, but that's all behind me now.

We're going to Cabo San Lucas this time for our Mexico trip. I probably would have chosen Puerto Vallarta again -- I see a lot of value in going to a place that you're familiar with -- but our friends always make the plans, and tell us where we're going. I don't mind that, really. Sometimes it's nice to have the choice taken away from you, and just be told where to show up. Although in this case, "where to show up" is the airport at about 4:30 in the morning! The flight leaves at 6:30 a.m., and the airport is about 45 minutes away, so we've decided to get a room at a hotel near the airport for the night before.

We don't know yet how late Bob will have to work that night, but I'm planning on taking the day off, so I should have plenty of time to pack and get ready. I only took one week of vacation last year, so I figure no one's going to object if I take seven days in a row. I do plan to get more vacation in this year, even if I have to take it a day at a time . . .

We had been practicing our Spanish lying in bed getting ready to go to sleep, but the last few days we've both been so tired, we haven't done it. But we have three weeks, so hopefully we can learn a few more phrases in that time. We've got "where is the bathroom?" "how much does it cost?" "what is your name?" "where is my wife (husband?" down pat.

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Another holiday weekend

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

It seems like I always make the same resolutions, probably the same ones that everyone makes. Last year's were sort of unique:

• Spend less
• Nap more
• Knit more
• Watch more movies
• Read more books
• Eat less
• Exercise more
• Moisturize more
• Wear rubber gloves when I wash dishes
• Be more assertive--stand up for myself more
• Make more art
• Listen to more music
• Take more pictures
• Waste less time

I don't think I really accomplished much on that list. Maybe "watch more movies," I guess I did that. "Exercise more?" Well, I did, until the gym closed. I did remember to "wear rubber gloves" most of the time when I washed dishes. "Make more art?" Nope, not really. I don't think I probably spent any less, or knitted any more, or ate less. I'm pretty sure I didn't waste any less time. So, maybe a list that I'm more apt to follow.

Resolutions:

1. Send birthday cards and gifts (cash or gift cards) to all nieces and nephews, and cards (or e-cards) to other relatives and friends. I used to be really good at this, but I've become lax the last couple of years.
2. Give something, no matter how small, to charity every month (my favorite charity is the City Union Mission in Kansas City)
3. Get an eye exam and new glasses
4. Instead of sitting down at the computer first thing in the morning, sit down at the table and write Morning Pages (from The Artist's Way). I enjoy this when I do it, I just have to make myself do it.
5. While at the table, pick a tarot "Card of the Day" to write about at Rarepeace.
6. Read at least 50 books (I read 60 in 2006, so this is doable)
7. Work on my tarot deck -- I don't think I worked on it at all in 2006. Create at least one card a month. Did I mention I bought a new domain name? I got a promotional email from a registrar offering $3.99 domain names, so I bought rarepeacetarot.com. Just in case I ever get to the point of actually publishing it some day.
8. Knit 6 pairs of socks -- one sock every month. Totally doable.
9. Learn a little bit of Spanish. I don't expect to be fluent, but learn some useful words and phrases (Bob and I have been working on it this week -- we have a month before we go to Mexico)

We had a nice Christmas and New Years Eve -- we spent Christmas Eve at Bob's parents' and Christmas day with my family; my sister and brother-in-law were in town, which was nice, but they live in Denver and weren't able to get out when they had planned, so their trip was cut short, unfortunately.

My sister gave me a really beautiful flowered antique teapot stand -- a ceramic piece to sit a hot teapot on -- and my other sister gave me a really cool pewter lamp that I took to work for my office. I got a gift certificate for a pair of Converse All Stars (I've been wanting some forever!) from my niece Mallory; I ordered a pair of pink ones yesterday! I can't wait 'til I get them.

Bob gave me a beautiful blue robe with moons and stars on it, and a pair of peridot earrings, and my folks gave me gold earrings, and Bob's folks gave us cash -- always appropriate! We also got Blockbuster and Best Buy gift certificates from my niece and my brother, and Bob got a couple of gift certificates for sporting goods from Barb and his brother, so we've had a lot of fun cashing them in.

Barb was in town for the week to see her family, so we got together one night for dinner with a couple of other friends, then she came out and had lunch with Bob and me on Sunday and we exchanged Christmas gifts (among other things, she gave me a pair of really cool battery operated candles. They're made out of real wax, so they have the look, feel and smell of real candles, and they flicker. I was concerned about leaving them on, figuring it would run down the battery, but the instructions say that regular batteries will last about 350 hours! Barb says she has one that she uses as a nightlight in the bathroom, so I'm doing that, too. They cast a really soft, pretty light, and you don't have to worry about blowing them out!

Afterwards, Barb took off to spend New Year's Eve with a friend; Bob and I stayed home and had our usual, quiet evening. I ran out at about 6:00 to go to the grocery store to get black eyed peas. I thought I had a can, but they turned out to be "purple hull peas," and I didn't want to take any chances.

I ended up going up to bed around 10:00, and Bob woke me up at 11:30 with a bottle of sparkling wine and our special wine glasses.

And we started the year with some good news -- Bob has a new job. He's going to work at a brand new Bass Pro Shop that's opening about ten minutes away from us. The job sounds like it will be perfect for Bob, and he's really looking forward to it. He took me out last night to show me where it is. It's still under construction, but it looks like it's close to being finished.

Even thought I don't do any kind of hunting or fishing or anything like that, I love the Bass Pro store in Springfield (which is the only one I've ever been to), so I'm excited about the new one here. Especially since Bob's going to working there!

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Happy New Year!

Barb was here this week for the holidays. I had dinner with her and another couple of friends on Wednesday night, and she came over today and Bob and I went to lunch with her. I find myself talking more with her than I talk with anyone--I don't think there's anyone (except maybe Bob) who would think I'm a talkative person, but when I'm with Barb, I find myself chattering on and on . . . maybe it also has to do with not seeing her very often. She lives in San Diego, and while we exchange emails and the occasional phone call, we only see each other once or twice a year. But it's always fun.

Yesterday I had gone out to Barnes & Noble to spend a gift card I got for Christmas. I wasn't really in the mood to shop, but I went to the tarot and spirituality section, because that's where my interest has been mostly, lately. They don't have a very large selection there (they have a better one at Border's), but I picked up a little book, the Tarot Bible, that I had seen before, but hadn't bought. I carried it around for awhile, along with a blank journal and a package of bookmarks, and then just thought that I shouldn't spend the money on frivolous things, that I should wait until I really needed something (like a Spanish phrase book for Mexico!), and I put everything back.

When Barb and I exchanged Christmas gifts today, that same book was one of my gifts! She said she had bought it way back in November; I just thought it was amazing that I had looked at it a couple of times and not bought it, and especially that I intended to buy it yesterday, but didn't.

We went to Jason's Deli for lunch, one of Bob's and my favorite places--it's just someplace where he can get a sandwich and I can get a salad, and it's kind of low-key and fairly inexpensive. The only thing that bugs me about the place is that they have so many tables crammed in there that it's almost impossible to get around, particularly when they have a bus cart parked in the aisle while someone is cleaning off the tables.

But anyway, it was good. And (when the machine is working) they have free soft-serve ice cream, always a plus!

We sat and talked here for awhile, and Barb took off a little while ago to go to another friend's house. Bob and I are going to have a quite New Year's Eve here at home by ourselves. While I was out with Barb, we went to the grocery store and bought cheese and bread, and I'll make fondue for dinner later. Bob and I stopped at a liquor store last night and bought a bottle of sparkling wine, so we have wine, bread and cheese--what more could we want?

I will probably think more about resolutions tomorrow, but for tonight, I only have two: to be better about remembering birthdays and send cards to all of our nieces and nephews and friends, and to give more to charity--to give something every month, even if it's small.

I'm sending out wishes for much love and happiness to everyone for 2007--hopefully it will be a magical year!

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Christmas Eve

Last week we took my eMac down to the Plaza to the Apple store. It had been doing fine, but I was afraid to shut it off -- as long as it didn't go to sleep, everything was okay, but if it went to sleep, or if I shut it down, chances are that it wouldn't come back on. I had discovered that there was a recall for a power problem, and mine fit within the manufacturing dates and serial number range, so I was sure that was what was wrong with it. When Bob bought it for me, he had bought the extended warranty, but because of the recall, Apple had extended the normal warranty to three years, anyway.

So either way, I had until summer, but I didn't want to wait until the last minute, even though it was working fine.

So we took it down Tuesday evening, and had dinner--our usual pre-Christmas visit to the Plaza. It was kind of a whirlwind trip, because Bob was going to get up at 1:30 a.m. to go hunting with his brother. We ended up eating at Panera Bread, which was actually perfect--there weren't very many people there, we had a great meal, and it was quick and fairly inexpensive.

The "Genius" at the Apple Store (that's not being sarcastic, that's what they call them) opened up the eMac, and said that it didn't look like the problem was the same one that had caused the recall. It had to do with capacitors (or something like that) that were defective and had bulged and leaked, like a battery. Mine didn't show that. But when she started it up (I was holding my breath!), it came on at first, then the display started flashing streaky blue lines, then died completely. I was frankly SO relieved--when I'd taken it in earlier, it worked just fine in the store, but that was before I knew of the pervasive problem.

So it obviously had a problem, just maybe not the same one.

They called on Thursday and said that when they had opened it up, one of the memory modules wasn't fastened down tightly, and that was the only thing they could find wrong with it. He said that once he pushed the memory in all the way, the computer started up fine, and they weren't able to replicate the problem again. So we went back down on Saturday to pick it up, and had brunch at the Classic Cup and walked around for awhile. I wished I had brought my camera; all I had was the camera phone. But I took a couple of cute pictures anyway.

Little glittery tree on our breakfast table:

Bob:

Statue on the Plaza:

I was up until 2:30 last night wrapping gifts. Since I had the eMac back, I watched movies on it while I wrapped -- Home Alone, and Christmas With the Kranks, two of my favorites. We ordered Chinese for dinner, which Bob went out and picked up, and at about midnight, I baked chocolate chip cookies.

Today Bob is boiling shrimp for the Christmas Eve buffet dinner at his parents' house tonight, and I need to go to the store to buy stuff to make scalloped potatoes to take to my parents' tomorrow.

We had a wonderful Christmas lunch on Friday at work--Cello took us to Morton's, which was wonderful. I like a little bit of steak, but I knew I wouldn't want to eat a whole one, so I ordered chicken, and Dave gave me a bite of his filet. We had a white elephant gift exchange, and I ended up with a ceramic kitty treat container from Eugene -- I can't help but think that he bought it with me in mind -- and no one had the heart to take it away from me.

It's been a lovely Christmas so far, and it isn't even Christmas yet!

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Christmas week at my house

Cranberry-Peppermint candle:

Peppermint ice cream:

Cupcakes:

Christmas tree-shaped candy dishes:

Christmas wall hanging (I didn't make this, and it usually stays up all year because I love it):

Bob spent about two hours last Tuesday night getting this Neil Armstsrong ornament to work. You hook it up to one of the tree lights, and when you push a button, it says, "One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." Because, you know, it just wouldn't be Christmas without Neil Armstrong.

A little catnip sock on the mantel for Doña:

Bob and Pyewacket's stockings. I crocheted Bob's (it resembles a Converse All Star hightop sneaker and sock) when we were dating, so it's over 30 years old!

My stocking and Dinah's -- Bob bought mine years ago at a mall where he had my name put on it in glitter.

Holiday punch: Diet 7-Up, orange juice, cranberry juice:

And last, but not least:

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