Christmas 2009 was low on gifts, for which I am grateful. Both sides of the family decided to either draw names or omit gifts altogether, and we were all less stressed and enjoyed each other much more. What I got, I loved, but still not as much as the long days with the family, which was the best gift of all. This is how Christmas should be.
My husband and I spent Christmas Eve with his father and step-family and all the kids. Christmas morning we went to his grandma's house and ate breakfast with his mom's side of the family, then went to my parent's for the afternoon. Saturday was a day of rest and gift card-spending, and Sunday was a day-long Christmas hang-out with his mom and step-family. It was a long weekend filled with family, which was nice.
I'm exhausted.
My gift from Chris was amazing. Over the past few months, he has been secretly logging on to my old Myspace (which I haven't been on in years) and pulling off all of the blogs I had written. He took every blog- two or more years worth of writing- and formatted and designed the pages and had a book made for me of all of my old writing. It is not only a beautiful and well-designed book, but the most thoughtful thing I think I have ever recieved. Seeing my own writing in a book is as strange as reading the writing of a younger me. I love it.
I gave Chris the new Magic Mouse for his Mac. He loves it in the cutest nerdy way.
We recieved a PetSmart gift certificate from my Aunt Gayle and Uncle John. We used it to buy Freya a Drinkwell Platinum Pet Fountain. It was hugely on sale in the store. We recently discovered some potential urinary problems with her, and put her on prescription food (which she loves) but noticed that she was no longer drinking her water and it was causing further problems. She's always drank from the bathroom faucet, so we thought this running stream would encourage more water intake. Boy, were we right. She's in love with it. Plus, you can buy a little attachment for it to grow a hydroponic cat grass garden, which I'm totally getting for her someday!
I took the tree down the day after Christmas. I loved having it and the holiday atmosphere in our home, but in our little place, the space it took up and mess it created, not to mention having to put it back together every day after the cat destroyed it, got a little tiring and I thought it would be nice to rid of it before it turned into an ordeal. Our place is back to normal and I even bought that cheap set of 10 frames to hang on the wall over the couch, so it'll soon be even better!
This week is also a short week at work because of New Year, so the celebrations aren't quite over. So, every please continue to have happy holidays!
Over the holidays, I was talking with someone whom I trust a great deal about "letting go". You know, it's the time of year that you reflect on what's happened and look forward to what can be and though I wasn't talking about that particular thing with this person, I thought the conversation was timely. We were actually talking about the past and how some people feel that to move on you have to "forget" about what's happened in order to move forward peacefully and with a smile.
See you in 2010!
A day when I get to leave the office early for any reason is a good day. A day when I get to leave early to go see pictures of my un-born niece- that's a fabulous day! Last Thursday, my sister and brother-in-law invited the grandparents and siblings to their 4D ultrasound. My parents, his parents, and I gathered at Invision Ultrasound in Fresno to have a peek at what Addison looks like right now.
It was incredible! Incredible. The image started off as a grainy 2D black and white, and with the click of a button, Addison's face was a clear as day! A collective gasp filled the room and I lost it when my brother-in-law started brushing tears off of his cheeks.
Some people are a little iffy about seeing their child's face that clearly before she is born; I used to think it was kinda weird, too. But, now that I've seen her, seen how complete she looks and how perfect her little features are, it feels so much more real to me. This little perfect being is growing inside my sister! What a tremendous gift!
She was in a great position- and very active- the whole time. She has my mom's nose. At one point she started to turn away, so the tech told my sister to loudly slap the other side of her tummy. Addison was apparently irritated by this, and as you can see from the second picture in from the right, she frowned at it! Definitely her mother's daughter. Those pouty lips are gonna mean trouble for daddy, too!
If you could kiss anyone under the mistletoe, who would it be?
Sincerely, the only individual I have any desire to kiss is my wonder husband, who is a top-notch kisser and as amazing and supportive and perfect for me as he is a bearded odd-ball:
The beard started in November- I mean, Novembeard- and for some reason stuck around. I dig it, though. He looks Ukrainian.
You'd think after almost a week of pilates, I'd be a little more sore. I have not experienced DOMS really at all except for the first time I did it; maybe I'm doing it wrong. I'm trying to really focus on muscle groups and using my core and doing that whole pull your belly button to the spine thing...
Belly button. What a fun title! That's gotta be the happiest body part because it has the cutest name.
I've been pretty consistent with massive cardio and Winsor pilates lately. Maybe it isn't enough, but I feel better about myself because I'm actually doing something!
My goal: to be comfortable in a bikini in public by July. Hell, even in a modest 1-piece! :-) And you know what? I think I might actually achieve it.
December hates diets. Not that I'm actually on one, but making healthy decisions is especially challenging when there are See's candies and homemade fudge and cookies and gingerbread and hot chocolate around. Working in this office is contributing to my girth. I've gained 2 pant sizes since I started working here.
I'm jogging an extra mile tonight.
I am shocked and pleased to find that I am now able to jog for upwards of five minutes or so on the treadmill consistently. Previously, I've felt like collapsing and dying after about 30 seconds of jogging.
I have not been going to the gym consistently enough to make a difference in anything, really, but I did take the jogging pace down a mere click or two so that I can get used to jogging at length, and I'm shocked at the stamina I have. Being able to withstand the exercise for a longer time makes me look forward to it more than dread it; it is less torturous. Last week while Chris was at bowling league, I went to the gym for cardio, and because Grey's Anatomy was on back-to-back on some girly station (how I miss cable television!) I ended up staying for over an hour and a half watching it while I jogged/walked. I was sweaty and ragged by the end, but I felt so good about myself. I jog for about as long as I can handle it, then slow the pace to walking to catch my breath, then bump it right back up to a pretty intense walk so that my heart rate never drops back to a resting rate. After a minute I try jogging again and do it all over.
Cario, bay-bee!
My biggest motivator is my waist line, which gets pumped out and expands each year I get older like damn bicycle tire being inflated.
Last night I followed my cardio with the Winsor Pilates DVD's my mom loaned me. Mari Winsor tried to kill me, but today my core feels the victory. I keep reading these testimonials of women who lost like 5 pant sizes in 10 weeks by doing them daily. I seriously, seriously doubt that this is possible, but hell- if I can make myself exercise consistently for 10 weeks, I'll be proud of myself no matter what happens.
Life has been so busy. And while that's no excuse to be ignoring my blog, it was the one thing that wasn't paying me in some form. So, I let it go. And while I am posting now, I have no idea how often I will be posting... so...
