Beginnings come when something ends

The change of year has occurred. 2009 has many mysteries in store for us all. For our household, we are in the midst of a few improvement projects. Ok, I’M in the midst of a few projects… Tony helps and is a good sport about the constant coating of dust on everything, plus the fact that he gets to share a bathroom with me until mine is back in tip-top condition. We had a tile floor installed a few weeks ago. It’s beautiful! So… to compliment the floor, the walls and ceiling must be painted… and then the tile in the tub surround will be replaced soon. The progress on the “baby room” has been very slow. I’m sanding off the popcorn on the ceiling and the larger nubs on the walls. If you’ve ever had the experience of sanding popcorn off a ceiling, you can understand that I have a feeling that I’ve bitten off a little more than I can chew with this project. It’s not for the faint of heart, nor for anyone wishing to stay clean. It’s actually made our entire house a cloud of dust. I’ve had trouble motivating myself to go stand on a ladder holding the sander with a mask and goggles on and sand, blink chunks out of my eyes, and sand, cough from the dust, and sand… I mean, I do that enough at work. So, I still get to finish the other 7/8s of the ceiling in there… and then we got Guitar Hero… and my number of excuses to not do anything in that room has quadrupled! LOL!!!

Our Christmas celebrations were all wonderful! Tony’s mom was very generous with us. As were all of our other family members… However, Pam was the msot generous of all. We left her house with a new laptop and a playstation3. I couldn’t believe her genero sity. I mean I’ve never had a christmas like that. Ever. Of course, every parent is different. And I’ve always been grateful for the gifts I receive. As I sat in Pam’s living room the Sunday before Christmas, everyone was doing other things. I was alone in the room by myself. I had my laptop in the box on my lap. I had my hand on it and started to cry. This was the first time in a long time, when I truly got exactly what I wanted for Christmas. And even though it was expensive, and effort was required to obtain it, she listened to me. She did whatever it took to make sure that I got what I wanted. There was no complaint about price. No snide comment about wanting something nice. No comment about what I wanted not being necessary… It was awesome. It was easy. And it’s okay for me to get exactly what I want from someone who is happy to get it for me. I felt really listened to. I felt important. I felt happy. There was no guilt. No thoughts of “well, it’s not exactly what I wanted, but it’s close.” Then we  had the wonderful opportunity to travel to my home towns for Christmas. I say home towns, because I lived in one for 15 years, another for 2 and the third, well, I guess I only lived there for like a year and a half, but my parents have been there for almost 11 years. We had a great time travelling around and visiting everyone. Sadly, our time is always short when we go home. Spending entire days with anyone is next to impossible. And lately, squeaky wheels have gotten grease… so to speak. We make sure we see people that express extreme desire to see us while we’re home. If someone doesn’t ask to see us, we usually don’t assume they want to. So, if you’re one of those people that wants to see us, let us know you want to see us. We’ll figure something out. It’s tough though. And for those who don’t live far away from home, please be conscious of the exertion, cost and general effort that it takes to travel, let alone long distances, and anywhere near the holidays. It’s crazy. Really. Part of us is looking forward to having kids so that everyone travels to see US. 🙂 Selfish, yes. I’m totally okay with that too. I’m becoming more and more okay with the idea of selfishness. Especially when it comes to travel. So, while we were at the St. Louis airport, the passengers of our flight were asked to voluntarily give up their seats in exchange for a few perks. So, we waited for the next flight and in exchange, received $370 each in travel vouchers! We’re so excited!!! My 30th birthday is coming up in a few short weeks…. scary… and to celebrate, we’re going to visit our most favorite american city, San Diego. From previous posts, you’ll note that we are planning to move to that general vicinity sometime in the next few years.

So, we’re a bit older, a bit wiser and a bit more prepared for life’s little surprises. Hopefully we’ll be expanding our family soon. I’m making good progress. And am feeling more and more confident with every pound I lose. I really like my life. I have an amazing husband. I have a nice home. I have parents that love me. I have friends that love me. I am truly a blessed woman. Sometimes… I forget that. Oh! And I’m celebrating 6 months smoke-free on the 7th of January!!! Woohoo!