So that was Christmas...

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I sure did! Matt and I woke up and we exchanged our gifts. He was really thoughtful and sweet. He gave me a couple of books that I have been wanting, some clothes, and a new camera! It is a Canon and so far, I know HOW to take pictures, but I have a lot of manual-studying to do to figure out all of the settings and features. It's totally rad, though!

As much as I LOVE all of the gifts that Matt and our families gave to me, I really do get the most pleasure out of giving. I love every minute of watching them open their gifts and seeing their reactions. This year, more than ever, I feel like my relationship with my parents as an adult, has really grown. Even though they were kind of surprised a few months back when I decided to just call and say I love them, I am really happy that I had the opportunity to let them know. My dad gave my brother and I our annual Christmas tear-jerker of a letter and gave each of us a special memento from his Army days. What he gave me is probably worth $1 street value, but it is the most precious gift I have ever received and I will cherish it forever.

Molly made out like a bandit! Not only did Matt and I spoil her with new treats and toys, but my parents, Matt's parents, and Matt's grandmother all adorned her with new yummy treats and fun little toys. She was one happy pooch!


I know I am not alone when I say, Thank God it's over. Now, I had a great time yesterday with my family and Matt's family. I am just relieved, I guess, to not have to worry anymore about gifts and baking and wrapping and decorating. As for the holiday spirit, I hope that the desire to be kind and charitable and grateful will guide myself and all of you through the new year.

Christmas Vacation

It wasn't quite a week with the Griswald's, but I just came home from vacationing with the in-laws. Last year, my mother-in-law and father-in-law told us that our Christmas gift for 2008 would be a family trip to Disney World. At the time, we were still living with his grandmother and we were so grateful for an opportunity to take a break.


I flew solo and met my husband, his parents, his sister, and her boyfriend in Orlando. They drove fifteen hours in my MIL's mini-van. I would have gone crazy in a van for 15 hours so I decided not to start the vacation off as a grump and opted for the two hour flight.

That first day, we just lounged by the pool and soaked in the hot tub. The 80 degree temps and sunshine and palm trees were even better knowing that it was miserable and cold back in Maryland.

The next day, we went to Animal Kingdom and Epcot Center.
I couldn't possibly remember all of the rides and shows, but I think that Epcot Center was my favorite of the four Disney parks. I loved all of the little countries and they had some fun shows and rides, too. Soarin' is a new ride where you glide over California and since I romanticize California so much, I adored every minute of it.



Epcot also has a "Flavors of the World" display where you can sample soda from different countries. I thought they were all kind of narsty, but Italy, in particular, made me want to vom.
One of the shows that we saw was "It's Tough To Be A Bug!" with the characters from "A Bug's Life." This 3D show in Animal Kingdom scared the living crap out of a bunch of little kids. There were parts where the audience was sprayed with water or aware of the scent that a stinkbug gives off. The little girl in front of us was screaming and her parents had to run out of the theater with her. I heard the little girl behind us say, "mom, I do not like this. I want to leave."

Frightened children were a constant theme in the parks. We were in line for a dinosaur ride and a boy was already crying. His father was visibly annoyed and trying to tell him that the dinosaurs are make-believe and he had no reason to be afraid. Dude, these kids are terrified! The ride kind of freaked ME out so I can only imagine how it was for a kid who was scared to death before even going in. He is now being treated for PTSD.

There were meltdowns left and right. I wished that I remembered more of my high school French when this little French boy decided to tear up his Magic Kingdom map and his father went nutso on him. Meanwhile, his younger sister was crying and her mother was trying to console her. It seems that the happiest place on earth can be a bit overwhelming for the kiddies.

The rest of the itinerary looked like this:

Tuesday - Hollywood Studios followed by some shopping at Downtown Disney in the evening. I loved the Aerosmith roller coaster!

Wednesday - Magic Kingdom. I practically dislocated my shoulder on Space Mountain - but it was pretty cool.

Thursday - Universal Studios. (I could ride the Simpsons and Spider Man rides over and over!) That evening, we went to Downtown Disney again, and I spent the majority of the evening paying for not drinking enough water. Dehydration ain't pretty, kids!



Friday - The family went back to the Disney parks to see some stuff that they had missed. I stayed home because at that point, I was terribly sick. I just got over a cold before I left for vacation and here I am, hacking and ill all over again. I did lay out by the pool and go for a swim but I probably should have just stayed in bed. That evening, we all went to dinner. When I got home, I took advantage of our washer and dryer in our unit so that I could come home and not have to deal with any laundry at all.

Saturday - The family dropped me off at the airport at about noon and they hit the road. I was in the airport for five hours, but I was home by 730, while the family made it home at about 330 in the morning. I spent that time in the airport reading and reading and reading. I am so excited to have finished the third book in the Twilight saga, "Eclipse." This was my favorite book in the series so far.

It was kind of a whirlwind vacation since we were busy every day. I feel like I could use another vacation! I took the day of Obama's inauguration off in hopes of making it down to DC, but I'm starting to get overwhelmed by the anticipated masses of people that are going to be there. I think I will keep that day off and book a spa day. I could use something relaxing to look forward to in the middle of January.

Now, I have a million errands to run for Christmas and very little time to get it all done... and yet, here I am blogging. Anyway, I am leaving you with some more pictures from Florida. I may not blog again until after the holidays so I hope everyone is safe, happy, and healthy this Christmas! Happy Holidays!

Mamma Mia! Here I go again...

Yesterday, my friend Kellie and I went to New York with a bunch of her work friends to see Mamma Mia at the Winter Garden theater. This is the only picture I took, because it was just pouring all day long.



I started to wonder how some people manage to get pictures in New York (or any other big city) without heads, and then I remembered - I'm short. So just ignore the head on the left! I do have some good ones from my pre-digital days that I may have to scan one day - or better yet, just go back and take new ones.

Mamma Mia! was excellent! I think it is my favorite of all of the shows I have ever seen. The music is so much fun and it's a great mother/daughter story. I got a little teary eyed during a bit of "Slipping through my fingers" and I don't even have kids!

a brief change of subject
Speaking of having kids, I received an email today, asking how I was doing and if I thought there might be babies soon. As if I'd keep that kind of information a secret. Don't people know that it's so rude to ask these questions? What if we CAN'T have children but want them desperately? What if we can't come to a mutual decision? Hell, what if we don't WANT any? I know that she wasn't trying to be rude and was really just curious, but it's deeply personal. Rule of thumb. When it comes to wondering about other people's reproductive decisions, just keep those thoughts to yourself.

Moving on, we didn't have much time for anything else since the show was right in the middle of our day. We did have time to walk to Crumbs bakery. When you walk several blocks in the city with boots - with heels! you deserve a cupcake. Or not, but I got one anyway. No, I bought four. But I brought them home with good intentions of sharing with Matt. Actually, Matt had heard about this bakery from listening to the Howard Stern show. There are cupcakes named after Artie Lang and Baba Booey from the show, and the proceeds of those cupcakes go to charity. I bought one of each, in addition to a Sex and the City "Cosmopolitan" cupcake featured here and a Reese's PB cupcake. Yummm. Having a treat like this is definitely worth it. Maybe I would be better off if I allowed myself something decadent once a month, rather than random junk from the grocery store.


I love New York so very much. I used to think I'd want to live there, but I realized I'd only want to live there under two interdependent conditions. Since I wouldn't have a car if I lived there, I would only want to live there on pleasant, sunny days. Also, I'd want to be very wealthy if I lived there. I would not be pleased with whatever Manhattan apartment I would be able to afford on my current salary. If I were wealthy enough, I'd have a driver and wouldn't have to worry about the weather.

As Abba and the Mamma Mia cast sings,
Money, money, money, Always sunny, In the rich man's world

Go Ravens!

I am watching the Ravens/Redskins game tonight. I used to love to watch football when I lived in California and the 49ers were hot. (I'm referring both to their record and that hot piece of Mormon ass, Steve Young.)

In the last few years, I just haven't been interested... but, it is something that my husband loves, so in an attempt to create more common ground between us, I am going to try to get into it tonight. It helps that I understand the game and that tonight's game is kind of a big deal since it's the two local teams.

Of course, anything that allows me to include my puppy in the festivities is going to help me stay interested. She seems to be more interested in her own football game of fetch.

Have a happy Sunday night if you're a football fan. I'm not, but I'm trying. Maybe next year, I will be.





*UPDATE*

Matt's happy that I'm watching the game with him, but I'm saying some stuff that I think is making him wish he were with the guys.

For example:

(gasp!) "oh my! I hope that man's neck is okay!"

After a Raven missed a catch and Matt yelled something at him, "everyone is allowed to make mistakes, Matt."

"those jackets are lavender. You think they're grey? They're definitely lavender. Hmm, maybe grey?'

I'm enjoying the game, though! 14-0 Ravens so far - which means Matt is in a good mood.

The most wonderful time of the year.

I'm doing a mediocre job of finding Christmas gifts for all of the people on my shopping list, but not having any problem whatsoever finding things that I'd like to buy for myself. Between an 8% cash back rebate on ebates.com, and a $15 gift certificate, I justified the purchase of this huge make up palette from Sephora. I think the colors in this palette are fantastic. There are only a couple that I wouldn't ever wear. This makes me want to put make up on. Merry Christmas, to me!



Even though I am having a hard time finding gifts for others, I am starting to get into the Christmas spirit. It snowed today but by the time I realized that it was snowing, it was too dark to get any good pictures. Today was spent writing Christmas cards, playing with the dogs, (my sister-in-law's pooch, Lucy is here today playing with Molly Anna), and baking Christmas cookies. What a perfect December Saturday.

Now, hopefully, the snow can melt and we won't see anymore of that nonsense during the work week when I have to drive.

I'll share some pictures of Molly and Lucy, sleeping and playing together. They act so ferocious, but adore each other. Molly's crazy Gene Simmons tongue makes me laugh.

Three years!

Today is the third anniversary of the day that Matt and I swore before God to love and cherish and do some other stuff to and for one another for as long as we both shall live. A year and a half in, that seemed a bit optimistic. We had some real challenges but I believe that we became a stronger team as a result.

I'm sure there will be challenges ahead. And I know better than to think that I can promise that the rest of our days together are going to be blissful; but I can promise that I'll love you forever - even when I'm yelling about the recycling bin or smelly socks. I'm just grateful that those are the big issues these days.

Love you.

Anyway...

I did a little bit of shopping after work today and came across a frame with this beautiful quote from Mother Teresa. It's kind of weird that I'd find a lovely, inspiring quote amongst stupidly overpriced shoes and clothes in South Moon Under.I only go in there for the house stuff.

Anyway, (that seems to be my favorite word, lately,) I think that these are words to live by. I just wrote last week about how I can be super-sensitive... and in the last couple of days, I've sort of made an imbecile of myself by allowing myself to take someone's words personally. So to that person, I'm sorry. The next two sentences are for you...

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

--- Mother Teresa