Adios 2009!

Thursday, December 31, 2009

It was the best of years, it was the worst of years, but I am glad to see it go!

Since I last blogged, my niece came to visit and I really enjoyed it. The coolest thing we did was go to the Ice exhibit at the Gaylord in Grapevine. I do recommend it, but try to go in a non-peak time, I'd say midday on a weekday, NOT the week of Christmas like we did. It was so crowded! And we waited in like a 20 minute line just to go down the ice slide once. I thought it was a lot of fun though, and I think Miranda enjoyed it.

Today, we're snacking on stuffed jalapenos, cheese fondue, chips, salsa, and guacamole, and sangria. I'm making cream cheese squares, which are just the worst thing you can possibly eat if you want to avoid junk, but they are AMAZING. It's essentially this recipe, although this isn't where I got it originally. The difference is, the original recipe I used called for a stick of melted butter to be poured over the top before sprinkling it with cinnamon and sugar and baking it. It. is. so. good.

Greg is coming over tonight, and we'll crack open a bottle of bubbly for midnight. Greg's year was even worse than ours - not only did he have to deal with Tom's accident, but his dad in Florida suffered a terrible stroke Father's Day weekend and wasn't found for a couple of days. He went to Florida to help him out and is in the process now of fighting for his dad's Medicare, which was declined for some reason (I don't know all the details), so he can move him to a facility in Texas. Unfortunately, it looks like he will need 24/7 care for the rest of his life. So, I know Greg's ready for a new year as well and I'm glad he's coming over. :-(

It was like rush hour traffic at noon today when I went out for groceries, so I'm glad to be staying in tonight. I would like to do that Big D NYE thing at Victory Park someday, but not until I can get a night at the W hotel, which was $500 for NYE when I checked. Another year!

My New Year's resolution is to keep a journal. This blog is great but it doesn't really provide much in the way of self-reflection. I am careful about how much of my guts I spill. I used to journal ALL the time, up until a few years ago. So I picked up a spiral notebook yesterday and I'm going to try again. Of course, eating better and exercising more are always on my mind, so I won't really call it new. :-)

I hope everyone has a safe, happy new year's eve!!!

Whew it's over!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

My parents came in Friday night. We put Goku in our bedroom so he wouldn't harass my dad on the pull-out sofa. That stinkin' cat kept us up all night. Tom flung him off the bed at 4:30am and he landed on Sasha, and Sasha yelped. That was the end of sleeping for me! I got up, turned on the coffee pot, and played on the PC for a bit until my dad finally woke up.

We left at 7:30 so I could be there by 8am. It was a long hour before the 9am ceremony started. Once we all lined up, we just stood around waiting. Bleh.

And here are the pictures. This one would've been great if it weren't fuzzy! This is me getting my flower - apparently they don't want to shake hands during flu season.




I am really focused on NOT falling. LOL







Me and Jessica - finally done!!



Me and Danyelle


Me and Jessica again!


Tom taking a picture of us while my mom is taking a picture.


Me and my parents.


So, after graduation, we put my enchiladas in the oven and had a delicious tex-mex lunch before exchanging some Christmas gifts. My mom brought me a graduation cake and a beautiful dozen red roses. :-) I'll post more pictures when I get them!

It was a good time! I slept like a baby last night, and now my niece and I are off to spend a little of my graduation and Christmas gift cards.

Oh the places you’ll go

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Oh wow, I haven't read this since high school, but I just looked it up. Isn't it great?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oh,_the_Places_You%27ll_Go!

Got a wonderful week lined up.

Tomorrow: Work and study. Tom starts school again taking a wintermester class at NCTC. I need to wrap SOME presents and get my Christmas cards ready to be sent.

Tuesday: 1st final exam. Work on a final report for another class, and buy groceries

Wednesday: Work and study.

Thursday: 2nd and final final exam. Turn in report for the other classes. Get my hair cut, and finish cleaning!

Friday: Cook in preparation for family’s early Christmas party on Saturday. Parents coming to spend the night.

Saturday: Graduation. Lunch and Christmas shindig with my immediate family.

Miranda is staying with us starting Saturday thru Christmas eve. I am so excited about graduation, having my family over for a reason that has nothing to do with hospitals and surgeries, and having my niece visit without me having to go to work! That’s right, I’m off starting Thursday and not going back til January 13th. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??

We have been cleaning like maniacs, even wiping down the baseboards, steam cleaning the couch, and scrubbing the blades on the blinds, stuff that never makes it into our typical “vacuum and do the dishes” housecleaning routine. I had planned to do a deep cleaning on the house during my time off work, but since we decided to do our Christmas shindig at our house since everyone will already be at my house anyway, the cleaning will be done early and I will be free to tackle some serious organization projects. The early cleaning would not have been possible without Tom, who has spent at least part of every weekday since Thanksgiving scrubbing on something. You should see our guest bathroom. I thought it looked good already, but Tom made it sparkle. I am going to take a huge load of books to donate, or to Half Price Books and be free of them. I also need to reorganize our pantry and kitchen cabinets. I haven’t had this much (voluntary) time off since I can’t remember, and I can’t wait!

I was accepted this week into the Educational Research doctoral program at UNT starting next spring, which is sweet. One weird example of why it’s awesome that may only make sense to me: I can FINALLY tell people I’m working on my Ph.D. This is so much simpler than telling people I am applying for this or that, or waiting to hear, or wanting to get my Ph.D. but may be getting into a masters degree program first, or whatever. There aren’t any ifs, ands, or buts about this. I AM a grad student. That is a big relief! It is officially much easier to answer that question I always get when people find out I’m graduating, “What are you going to do now?” Well, I’m going to grad school! LOL

So, I hope everyone enjoys their THIRD week in December. I’m sure I’ll make time to post graduation pictures soon. If not, please enjoy your Christmas as best as you can!!

 
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