Hello and Welcome Back!
It has been such a busy, hectic, crazy, time-consuming, where-do-I-start two months. But with popular requests (okay...mom & Kris all over me), I'm back. It seems that it was easier not to make the time for the blog then to do it. Sounds like a lot of things I do in live - avoidance seems to be my route. And realizing that, may shake my butt awake in all areas. So let's play catch up:
In December, Logan went on a cruise with Bill for 10 days where he met Ashley. For most of December they were hot & heavy with emails. In the meantime, it seems to have slowed down only to be replaced by over 1,000 texts from Katie, Hannah, and a couple more female friends.
Mom came up for a wonderful week visit during Christmas. What a wonderful gift! We have not spent Christmas together since 1995. I realized that was the simple reason that my grandmother would visit from Germany during the holidays plus the bad NYC weather does not agree with the thin-blooded Floridian.
The holiday season flew by this year. A good part of it seemed lost since Logan left on December 6th right after waking up to St. Nichlaus' gifts in his shoes until he returned on December 15th.
It wasn't as festive as past years. Our lights didn't work on the outside of the house. Due to the economic crisis, we were not able to have our fun-tastic work holiday party. Weather was wet not snowy. (Wait until I catch you up on this snowy January.)
We did enjoy the annual Christmas Cheer at Tina's house this year. It was great for mom to visit there for a bit to see the young girls she knew with their families as "older" girls. We've been friends for over 28 years and in Kelly's case 36 years. Holy!
Logan was with me for both Christmas Eve and the rest of the time with a short visit with Dad on Christmas day (all of 2-3 hours.) I was thrilled. It seemed that Bill & Betsy had broken up -- again! -- and Bill graciously realized that it would be more festive for Logan to wake up with a tree. New Year's Eve was celebrated at Kelly's with lots of laughter and some great games of LCR Left/Right/Center.
January came blowing in with cold winds and arctic temperatures. That means it's cold enough to make a polar bear shiver. Yuck! In between the cold weather, we have had snow on & off but only one time nice enough to enjoy. That was on Martin Luther King's day. Kelly, Tina, & I took the gaggle of kids sleigh riding at Cedar Creek Park. It was awesome! Not too cold and plenty of laughter.
We did end the month on a very sad note. A very dear friend lost her mom and this is a loss that will be felt by many. A true matriarch of a big, loving Italian family. Ironically, I see my friend as the one now taking on that role. Her style and calming nature draws everybody to her and I think she will fill these shoes with greatness.
And lastly, the economy is taking a turn for the worse. I've had to cut my days at work from four days to three and that is not very comfortable for me. Good news is that I'm actively looking for a part-time job on weekends to supplement this money and hopefully when times turn better, I can continue with this to get myself ahead once and for all.
All else is quiet.
Oh - you're wondering about the lapband. Shoot! I almost forgot about that. Well I'm nearing the 60lb mark but need another 5 lbs to push me there. (I believe in the round-up theory.) I have been exercising more. Walking at least 4x a week and dancing to a video 2-3x while following a favorite old exercise regime - The Jane Fonda Workout. I can only say good things about the lapband. It's a slow journey but I'm enjoying it as I'm taking it.
So now that I have to go shovel some snow -- yes, four more inches just came in last night -- I promise to be back at least on a weekly basis. Ciao for now!
