A Change is in the Air

Well, it's been over two months since I last blogged. Life got the better of me and I just didn't have the energy to update. But, I wanted to make sure to post something before the year was out. Hopefully I'll get back to blogging a bit more soon. Since October we've gone on that little cabin getaway I mentioned, and it was lovely. Hoping we'll get to go again sometime in the new year, maybe around Spring Break.

I managed to host my first family holiday in our home when we had my mom, brother, aunts, uncles, and cousins over for Thanksgiving. I couldn't have asked for things to go more smoothly. My only regret is that now the "grown ups" are getting older, so things don't run as late as the family holidays of my youth. But the dinner was great, everyone loved the food, our house, my simple decorations, and thanks to Steph I was able to seat everyone in our dining room around her 6 foot folding tables! My cousin Traci's kids both said at different times in the evening that they wished they could stay the night at our house. When the kids don't want to leave I think you can feel like you've done a good job, right?

The Monday after Thanksgiving my boss unfortunately passed away. He had been sick for quite sometime, and we all knew that it was coming, but it still manages to feel very sudden when it actually happens. I'm still working at the office for now, because there is a lot to do before we can close up shop. It's strange after working for him for 10 years to not have him humming around the office, or ringing up to have us connect him to a client from his cell phone. We're helping his wife keep things in order, find attorneys to cover his current cases, get client files together to return to old clients, etc.

My boss's passing was definitely a distraction in the last few weeks of school, but I managed to do well on my finals and got the A's I wanted for the semester. I also joined the Phi Theta Kappa honor society on my campus, and volunteered with the Lone Star Film Festival this semester. I've got most of my classes scheduled for next semester, and hopefully I'll be able to pick up a lot of students in my note taking gig, to make up some of my pending lost income.

On a brighter note, I got a second part time job too. In fact, I was officially told that I'm hired earlier this morning. Starting sometime shortly after the new year I'll be blogging for the local furniture and upholstery company Simple Things. I'll be coming at it from a blogger angle, whereas the employee who has been running the blog thus far was already with the company, so I'm looking forward to learning about their business and suppliers and integrating my knowledge of blogging and familiarity with popular design blogs and social media into their virtual presence. Once they start getting their new store established I'll also begin photographing store vignettes for the blog as well, which is very exciting for me!

We're less than a week away from Christmas and I can hardly believe it. With all the above-mentioned stuff going on we've hardly had time to decorate. My brother and his wife are hosting our Christmas morning this time, which takes a lot of the pressure off. We got a small fake tree this year, which normally I'd be completely opposed to, but we just didn't have the time and energy for a real one this year. I can always leave this faux five footer packed away and get real trees, but it's nice to have something in the attic for hectic years such as this one. And, it was a mere $30 pre-lit. Can't argue with that. I need to start wrapping presents tonight. I mean, I seriously have to start wrapping presents, there's like 30 of them.

So, there you have it, a brief recap of the past few months, and what I'm currently most excited about in the new year. Also, I'm so happy to have spent another year with Josh. He's been so supportive of me while I'm working hard at school, with the loss of my boss, and he is almost as excited as I am about this new job opportunity, even though it likely means less money in our pockets. At least for a while, anyway. I couldn't ask for a better partner.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
via

Sink or Swim

I'm feeling very overwhelmed lately. We had a nice weekend, in which I got a few things done. But it just seems that there's never going to be a way for me to get all the the things done that need doing. Money is really tight right now, and I need all the work hours I can get. I'm doing good on getting to work early so far. But at the same time I really need to go take the placement test for school. Time is dwindling and the longer I wait the harder it's going to be to put together a decent class schedule. Taking the test means missing work though.

On top of the school/work/money thing is the driving thing. We got the new car, in part so we'd have something I could more easily learn on, and drive on days I have school. But I haven't had a chance to drive it yet. And beyond that is the stress of actually getting my license. And then the increase in our insurance and gas costs come up, which swings us back around to the money side of things. Add to that the everyday stuff like I don't like my job, housework, cooking, and insomnia.

And let's not forget the icing on the cake- I've gained at least 6 pounds since my foot injury. Half of my pants don't fit. The expensive pairs, naturally. So I'm on a heavy rotation of stairs, jumping jacks, pilates, walking, and hand weights. Also counting calories and measuring food portions. I can't afford to buy a bunch of new clothes, not to mention that I don't want to. It's all my favorite pants that aren't fitting!

I know people have problems way worse than mine, but it doesn't stop these things from stressing me out. Guess it's a good thing I'm doing all this exercising for stress release, huh?

Perfect Treat

Josh put some dark chocolate covered almonds in my Christmas stocking. I decided to bring them to work and put them in a candy jar near my desk. They have turned out to be the perfect little treat during my work day. After all, dark chocolate is good for you and almonds are full of vitamin E, so I'm doing myself a favor by eating a few every day.

Sicky

I've been feeling under the weather since I woke up yesterday morning. Unfortunately for me, so has the only other person in the office, besides the boss-man. They beat me to the punch, which means I'm the one stuck at work when all I really want to do is lay in bed and groan. I'm working on recuperating as quickly as I can. I'm using the Zicam that saved me around this time last year (a cold that close to your wedding can be a frightening prospect), got some apple juice, ginger ale, and Kleenex at the grocery store last night, and I'll be having some hot soup for lunch. Tonight I will go heavy on the garlic and veggies for my spaghetti to try and boost my immune system, and the vaporizer will be bedside as I try to get some rest. But I really wish I wouldn't have to climb out of bed tomorrow morning for another 11 agonizing hours in the dry office air conditioning and florescent light.

And Then I Don't Feel So Bad

I'm so excited! I finished packing up the box this afternoon and shortly I'll be at the post office shipping off a few of my most loved odds and ends to my partner for Jihan's Favorite Things Swap- Summer '07. I really hope that my partner will be as excited to open the box as I was to fill it with goodies. And I hope the goodies I chose don't disappoint. I can't wait to receive my package either, but it's always more fun to give than to receive. At least that's how I justify my Christmas budget, ha.

Josh and I are looking forward to this weekend so very much. We don't have any plans, aside from doing a few things we need to do and a lot of things we want to do. For the first weekend in a month or more we don't have any obligations to family or friends. We're going to finally(!) switch bed frames with my bro & his wife so that we can get our new headboard put up. I will probably do laundry and grocery shop. But aside from that, we are free. I plan to watch some of the quality television that I've been dvr'ing, but haven't gotten to watch yet. Josh plans to play a lot of PS3. These both require the same television, but compromises can be easily reached. Especially when we play the sudoku game he downloaded together. And Saturday night I'm going old school and making chicken tenders and Kraft macaroni & cheese. I've been craving some of our not so healthy, but oh so yummy meals of yore.

This has been a long week, and today has been a long day. I'm so thankful that when I leave work today I don't have to be back till Monday! What are you thankful for today?

Simply Cheerful

Over the past few weeks I have been cleaning up my office at work. My office is at the back, rarely seen by clients. That translates into a storage area for boxes, furniture, and old, broken equipment. Coming into my office everyday, as the boxes slowly began encroaching, was beginning to crush my soul. So while my boss was out of town, meaning I would have less ASAP tasks thrown at me, I decided to do something about it. I couldn't get rid of everything, in fact most everything is still in here. It's just organized better, or at all for that matter. And now I can actually look out my windows to my really awesome view of the tree covered hills and downtown Fort Worth. I'll have to take a picture of it sometime to post, cause it really is great. If I stand up I can see the river too, since it flows right beside our building.

Real Simple magazine has a page at the back of each issue called Real Simple To Go. They have tidbits of information printed on perforated paper for easy removal. I went through my back issues last night and collected the thoughts cards that I really liked. Today I taped them on the edges of my flat screen monitor for daily inspiration and cheering up. When you're at your desk for around 11 hours a day you can use all the cheerfulness you can find. Here are the quotes that will be inspiring my thoughts for now.

"The Beautiful is everywhere; perhaps more in the arrangement of your saucepans on the white walls of your kitchen than in your eighteenth-century living room or in the official museums."- Fernand Leger

"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Remember that the most beautiful things in the world are the most useless; peacocks and lilies for example."- John Ruskin

"There is a gigantic difference between earning a great deal of money and being rich."- Marlene Dietrich

"You must have been warned against letting the golden hours slip by. Yes, but some of them are golden only because we let them slip."- J.M. Barrie

"Nature gives you the face you have at 20; it is up to you to merit the face you have at 50."- Coco Chanel

To-Done

My normal work week is M-Th 6:30 AM to 5:30 PM. That's 11 hour days, which isn't as bad as it sounds, especially since it means I have Fridays off. I try to use my Fridays for house cleaning, so then Josh and I have the weekend to spend time together and have fun. Last week I was out sick on Monday, so I was going to make it up on Friday. Then the cat got sick Thursday night, and I ended up staying home with him on Friday, keeping an eye on him and calling vets. His regular vet was out of town, that's why it's plural. I'm a good cat mommy, I swear. :) Anyway, I was gonna work all 5 days this week, to make up the day I didn't make up. I woke up this morning and there was just no doing it. You know you have a good husband when you nudge him at 5:45 in the morning to ask him if he minds if you stay home from work to clean house, and he says no. So, I lost out on a little bit of money, but I gotta a good chunk of work done. I'd rather clean house than go to work any day.

Bedroom:
-Wash sheets and blanket
-Vacuum mattress topper and mattress
-Put up clean laundry & drying rack
-Tidy closet & bedside area
-Dust bedroom
-Vacuum floor & walls

Living room:
-Wash sofa blanket
-Vacuum sofa and chair
-Tidy and clean coffee table
-Lint-roll curtains
-Dust TV stand, bookcases, and desk
-Vacuum floor & walls

Dining room:
-Clean off table and wipe down
-Clean off piano
-Vacuum floor and walls

Kitchen:
-Do any dishes needed
-Wipe down cabinet fronts and counter tops
-Empty fridge and wipe down surfaces
-Clean sink and drains
-Microwave sponge
-Empty and clean trash can
-Sweep and mop floor

Bathroom:
-Scrub bathtub, tile, and shower doors
-Clean toilet
-Scrub sink
-Clean counter top and mirror
-Sweep and mop
-Wash floor mat

Other:
-Make next week's menu plan & grocery list
-Grocery shopping

In other news, it's Chipotle Friday! And even Marvin is excited about it....