Monday, December 29, 2008

End of the year survey ... courtesy of Cyn!

Where did you being in 2008?
(What kind of sentence structure is that?!) I was and still am at my new job that isn't so new anymore. But it's still new to me because it's only been a year and a half!

What was your status by Valentine’s Day?
In a loving and secure relationship ... and broke ass because were saving for a wedding!

Did you have to go to the hospital?
Not to be checked in or anything. For my annual lady appointment - yes.

Did you have any encounters with the police?
One sort of flirted w/ me a while back. Made an old gal feel young for a quick second ;)

Where did you go on vacation?
Oahu & Kauai

What did you purchase that was over $500?
Hmm. Stuff. (I don't want to answer, especially since I sometimes live beyond my non profit means)

Did you know anybody who got married?
Yes. A few!

Did you know anybody who passed away?
Yes, unfortunately.

What sporting events did you attend?
None. I go for the food, alcohol and yapping so it's less expensive if I just go to a friend's house for all that ;)

What concerts/shows did you go to?
Dave Matthews Band

Describe your birthday.
I was sick. My head felt cloudy and I was coughing and stuffed up. I had to go to meet w/ a couple of clients and then passed out on cold meds when I got home. Happy 30th baby!

What was one thing you thought you would never do but did in 2008?
Hike in a GD jungle.

What has/have been your favorite moment(s).
Predictably, our wedding and honeymoon. Both were pretty fantastic.

Any new additions to the family?
Nope.

What was your best month?
Tough call. December is usually my favorite month of the year because of birthdays and Christmas. But April was very awesome because we were on vacation for nearly 2 1/2 weeks in one of my most favorite places (and we got married to boot:)

Who has been your best drinking buddy?
My friend, Marisa. She drinks about the same as me so we are definitely intoxicated but we're hardly ever sloppy. And, knock on wood, never a hot mess!

Made new friends?
Yes. Not necessarily brand new but new drinking buddies!

Favorite Night out?
That's difficult! I guess the one in January where I threw a girl's drink out and told the guy holding it, "You are never anyone's drink bitch. Least of all, hers!" That ended a bit rough, though (yes, vomiting was involved.) But I have a lot of favorite night ins w/ The Man :)

Any regrets?
One small one - not enjoying every moment of our wedding. I was a bit stressed prior to our wedding day and wish I could have let loose and enjoyed some moments w/ all the family.

What do you want to change in 2009?
I'm w/ Cyn - being more financially stable. And the ol' weight thing. But it's more like I want to get back to a certain size.

Overall, how would you rate this year?
A-

Have any life changes in 2008?
Yes. Stated several times above so I won't mention it AGAIN!

Change your hairstyle?
No. I still have long hair. But I've slowly gone back to my natural hair color!

Get a new job?
Nope. I'm very thankful for the one I have!

Do you have a New Year’s resolution?
See "what I want to change" question.

Did anything embarrassing?
Oh I'm sure I have but I want to keep it buried in the dark recesses of my mind.

Get married or divorced?
Yup. And nope.

Be honest, did you watch American Idol?
Yes.

Start a new hobby?
Is boot camp a hobby? I did start that. And love it! I'm still sad that I had to stop yoga due to my shoulder. Booooooooo.

Been snowboarding?
Not in YEARS.

Are you happy to see 2008 go?
I'm indifferent. Unless I could relive certain moments, there isn't much use in holding on to the time.

Drank starbucks in 2008?
Why not ask me if I took a breath in 2008, too?

Been naughty or nice?
I think both. - Ditto!

What are you wishing for in 2009?
Success in our marriage. Success professionally. Success personally. Success financially ... plain ol' Success!!!! Oh, and love, happiness and good health for all my family and friends.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

A different kind of Christmas

After being together for six years, this will be The Man's and my first Christmas together. With his family living roughly 2 1/2 hours away, it made it impossible to be able to see both families on the same day - so we've always separated. This year we will be together. This makes me happy because Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday. Ever.
It probably has a lot to do with my Daddy who loves him some Christmas. And my mom, who is not a big holiday person, just goes along for the ride with her two crazy Christmas fanatics. Anyway, this is also my first Christmas (ever) away from my parents. And I feel funny about it. I also will miss being with Sister, The Boy and WGD this year but we've already has Christmases apart. It's hard to explain because it's not like they were ever truly gung ho about it. The decorations consisted simply of a Christmas tree and lights outside. My dad even stopped cooking so we would pre order a Christmas meal from a local grocery store. But even though Christmas at my parents' house is really low key, being with them is all I know.
So I'm a little sad. What's funny is I probably am thinking way more it than my parents! They're not overly sentimental folks. And I don't want The Man to take it the wrong way because I love him very, very much.
Anyway, I'm still very much looking forward to Christmas and I am very happy to be with The Man during my most favorite time of the year. I know that we will create new Christmas traditions ... like two Christmas trees! :) I just wish I could "have my cake and eat it too" and be with my family, as well.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Out cold (kind of) last week.

Wow. That bug going around is a DOOZIE.
Two Sundays ago, The Man and I took Christmas pictures. That afternoon, he was a sweaty mess. The next day, I had a lighter version (a distant cousin of the Man's virus, perhaps?) that knocked me off my feet. In a bad way.
In one part of the house, we had The Man trying to break his fever, hacking and coughing and cuddling the heater in the living room ... and no, I'm not exaggerating. He was curled up as close to the heater as possible that I was worried he would singe some part of his clothing. He was sweating like no other but felt really cold. He also didn't want to soak through the sheets (again) or get me sick so he opted to sleep in the living room, spooning the heater. I felt so bad for him but couldn't take care of him because, in the other part of the house, I was stuffed up, trying to sleep off what I think I had a cold which later turned into the flu. At first, I thought it was manageable. What's a cold, right? Except when I drove around for work that Monday, I felt like I had taken doses of drowsy night time medication. Which I hadn't. I had coffee and everything but I felt drugged and couldn't shake it off. And it got worse each day.
The kicker is that his mom and little brother had planned to stay with us Tuesday through Friday because she was getting medical treatment in the Bay Area. I'm sure my poor mother in law (and it probably wasn't that great for his little brother) was not excited to see that we were both sick, especially since she was easily suseptible to illness. She ended up making us two types of soup while she was here and asked the bare minimum of us because we were so sick. She was pretty awesome. And the little brother entertained himself with video games. Pheww!
And my birthday ... oh, what an uneventful day that was! On top of being sick, I lost three accounts that day. So professionally, I was already in a bad mood. In addition to that, I had four client meetings all over the East Bay, in Pleasanton, Alameda and Berkeley. I felt so crappy that I rescheduled the first and last meeting of the day to be over the phone so I wouldn't spread my sickness. (I couldn't help the other two appointments - hope I didn't infect them!) People asked me, "Where is your hubby taking you for your big day?" NOWHERE. I just wanted to pass out in a NyQuil and Theraflu haze. I know, probably slightly dangerous but I was congested and just plain miserable.
I adore Christmas and normally seize the opportunity to decorate the house all holiday-like. We didn't have a tree until Sunday because we were in no condition all last week to get one. While we felt better by last Sunday, we still weren't the picture of perfect health and he and I were a dizzy and sweaty mess by the time we bought it, set it up and decorated it. We actually needed a nap.
Now today, Tuesday, we're both much better. Well, The Man woke me up with his hacking and coughing but I'm hoping that it's just residue and not a relapse. Ahhhhhh ... stupid bug. I also hauled rear end yesterday to get out our greeting cards, over 200 because I also sent them out for work!! Boo. I feel so behind on the holidays. Not to mention, I feel a little jipped from at least a week of waking up to beautiful Christmas cheer. But I'm determined to enjoy the time we have left and am even on the search of keeping with tradition and trying to find a mini Douglas Fir for our bedroom. As The Man likes to mention, if something happens once (like getting two Christmas trees for my birthday last year) and I happen to like it, it now becomes TRADITION. Who doesn't want to wake up to the soft glow of Christmas lights, the smell of a little Christmas tree and little puppies cuddling with you in the morning? (Because he gets up a little earlier than me, The Man lets our puppies out of the kitchen so I can wake up to puppy kisses, or being stepped on by puppies, each morning:)

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Ohhh SNAP. Christmas pictures!!

I love, love, love my husband. Our only planned amateur photo shoot (we were going to have his little brother take the pictures) was rained out. I worried because I had no idea how we would have another willing and able person around when we were available to take pictures. But The Man had no doubt he would be able to take care of business with his trusty tripod and our little canon camera.
We woke up this morning and took the pups to Alameda. Poor guy, he was feeling under the weather but he put a brave face on because he knew how much I wanted pictures for our holiday cards. It was colder than a mother effer but by golly, he did it. He's so talented! And I have to add that he was missing the piece that attached the camera securely to the tripod so it was balancing precariously the entire time :)


We could NOT figure out how to get the puppies to look at the camera.


Our dogs couldn't be less interested in what we were doing.


Good enough - we'll take it!


Poor guy, he is sick and shivering the whole time. And if there hadn't been fog, you would be able to see San Francisco and the Bay Bridge in the distance. But there was. So you don't!


Looks romantic. But we're both thinking, "Did the camera take the picture yet?" And again, no San Francisco skyline :(


Hauling the dogs back to the car and getting our frozen rear ends back home! (I think Gil FINALLY understands why I love the car seat warmers so much!!!)

I was hoping to be one of those annoyingly on the ball people who sent out their Christmas cards right after Thanksgiving. But now I'm just part of the normal geeky crowd who loves to send holiday cards made up of pictures of themselves.

I freakin' LOVE this season! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!

PS: Poor hubby. He had cold sweats that night and a fever. He ended up calling sick on Monday ... he thinks someone sneezed in his food when we ate out on Saturday night!