Christmas Update

Life has been a bit crazy lately. We got moved into the house. Everything looks great. The chimney got fixed, Jeff has started some of his touch-up projects, and we got decorated for Christmas. I've still got one box that is only halfway unpacked, but that's better than what I normally am at this point! It helps that we are having people over so I feel like I have to get it presentable!

Our plans for Christmas are church tonight and Jeff's family Christmas Eve party. His mother and Ray are spending the night. Ray has to leave early and go to work. We're going to Cullman to see my folks for lunch, then to Center Point to do his big family thing for dinner. The weekend will be quiet because Saturday Jeff and I are both grounded. We're not going anywhere or doing anything except spending the day being lazy together! Then Monday my extended family is coming to see the house and we're all going to Cullman to do the family get-together.

One thing I have noticed about Alabaster (especially in a very family-friendly neighborhood) is that Christmas is HUGE around here. Santa will even be riding around town and stopping in a lot of neighborhoods. He will be stopping about three houses up from us, so we can probably stand on the front porch and watch. The quoted time is 7pm and we should be home by then, so I may have to check it out!

The house has been taking up a lot of my energy and brain cells, but I think we are finally to a point where we can sit back and enjoy it. There is plenty that still needs to be done, but that is always going to be the case with a house! I think that is the biggest difference between owning and renting - everything is my problem now, and more importantly I CARE!

The dogs are good. They have adjusted well to the change of location and like their new home. Patches loves getting to run up and down the stairs whenever he wants. Cocoa seems a little unsure of things occasionally (I think she gets lost!) but seems to like having new hiding places.

We will have an open house sometime in the spring (once Jeff decides he is done with the outside) but you're welcome to come see the house sooner if you want!

Nomad No More

Friday is moving day. I can't believe it's finally here, but at the end of this week Jeff and I will be living in OUR house. And my life as a nomad will be ending.

I feel like my life has been a six and a half year long game of the hokey pokey. I can't remember how many times I've moved in and out and had to shake it all about! The best count I can come up with is at least ten different times in the past six years. It stinks. It truly does. And I'm over it. It may have been an exciting adventure a while ago, but no more.

I'm ready to be settled. I'm ready to give away all the boxes. I'm ready to recycle all the paper. I'm ready to throw out the foam. I'm ready to put nail holes in the walls and make height marks on door frames and carve our initials into a tree. I'm ready to have a place that truly feels like home!

And as much as I'm looking forward to being in our new home, the process of getting there is making me nuts. I HATE packing. Unpacking I actually enjoy because I can organize as I go. There is nothing more exciting to me than a set of empty shelves or a wall of empty cabinets. But a stack of empty boxes? That is the stuff nightmares are made of. I am haunted by thoughts of flat cardboard and packing paper and foam wrap and that awful tape!

Right now it's a tease. We have new furniture for the dining room and the living room. The dining room was a good find at a secondhand store. We got a nice oval table, the pad, 2 arm chairs, and 4 side chairs. The living room furniture is our Christmas gift from both sets of parents. We got a couch, a chair, a coffee table, and 2 end tables. All this stuff is in the house. The living room furniture still needs to be moved, but at least it's there. The fridge, washer, and dryer are all there. The house is liveable. We just aren't there yet!

Thankfully, we have hired movers this time. They can do all the heavy lifting and the hauling up and down stairs. I can smile, direct traffic, and start unpacking the moment the right boxes hit my kitchen!

Vacation Revelation

New experiences are great educators. Often, our greatest lessons are about ourselves and can be found in the ways we react to these experiences - the good, the bad, and the ugly. Here are a few things that I have learned about myself on this trip. This is not to say that my way is better or worse than anyone else's, they're just mine!

Watch the Clock - I am a very schedule driven person. I also take my word seriously, particularly when I know others are depending on me. I have always known that my preference is to be on time or even a little early if I can help it. I absolutely despise being late anywhere. I have come to realize that I also take the word of others seriously. If a plan is made and it is not then observed, I can get uncomfortable or even upset. I'm not good at being spontaneous. Sometimes I wish I were. But for now I work on a plan and a schedule.

Change it Up - I don't consider myself to be an exceptionally adventurous person. I'm certainly a creature of habit and find comfort in familiar surroundings. But when I change things up, I like to go all out whenever possible. I have heard several people tell me that whenever they travel they try to make it a rule to not go to places they have access to at home. And I really saw the wisdom in that. I'm not going out of my way to totally immerse myself in a new place and sometimes I really crave something of home, but I feel like the farther you go from home the more you should want out of the experience. This primarily applies to dining, but also to shopping and entertainment at times. I may still eat familiar foods, but for the most part try to go to a restaurant where I don't know the menu by heart! I like familiar brands, but want to hit stores that aren't as easily accessible to me if I'm shopping. And I'm all for watching a familiar movie one night on TV, but I'm not going to go out of my way when there are other things I could be doing with that time!

Balance is Best - Everyone enjoys different things and has different priorities for their ideal vacation. Some people like to relax, some like to be more active. And in general there is room for all of this. But it's important to ask who wants what. I'm not the best at this and I need to be better. I know what I want and will do anything to get it. Sometimes, the best thing you can do to get your own way is to compromise. This is probably the biggest challenge to most group activities - people either roll over or won't budge. And because compromise is a two-way (or sometimes a three, four, or more way) street, it takes tremendous participation and often a little determination as well.

Don't Torment the Caged Animal - I need a certain amount of freedom. Whether it's frequent stretch breaks while driving or the chance to get out into the world after about 24 hours of no outside stimulation, if I don't get a break I get very crabby. And it doesn't take much to make me mad or upset. This also means that, the longer vacation goes on, the easier it is to push my buttons and the less likely I am to laugh it off. I do hold grudges longer than I should and some of my strongest have been known to come from long vacations!

Ornament exchange

This is the ornament I got from my ornament exchange. Isn't it pretty? That's our new house in case you can't tell!

Turkey

I'm going to be honest. I am absolutely, unashamedly bragging here. I roasted my first turkey tonight. Actually, it was just a turkey breast, but it was still a huge hunk of bird. And this was pretty important since this is the centerpiece of our thanksgiving. I was kind of nervous, but I'm quite pleased. I just stuffed it with onion, rosemary, sage, garlic, and lemon and roasted it for about 3.5 hours. And yes, it tastes just as good as it looks. I may have to start roasting turkeys pretty regularly and not just saving them for holidays!

Thanksgiving to Go

For our first major holiday as husband and wife, Jeff and I will be hitting the road. And not just us, but also his parents and grandparents so it will be a small family get together, just relocated.

We didn't set out to travel for Thanksgiving or any other holiday. But right after we got engaged we bought this vacation package thinking we may use it to go to Hawaii or something for our honeymoon. Well, we decided against that and were left with this vacation voucher that will expire the end of this year. Jeff's grandmother had mentioned how much fun it would be to swim with the dolphins after we went the first time and she has been all kinds of adventurous in the past couple of years. Since his grandparents are incredibly hard to shop for, we decided that taking them on vacation would be a good gift for them!

The plan right now is to drive down on Saturday, go to Sea World on Sunday, and do the Discovery Cove thing on Monday. Tuesday will be another day at Sea World and then I think Wednesday we may try to lay low and go to the outlets, maybe go back to Sea World if we feel like it. Thursday we don't have any plans except to watch the parade on TV and eat. An afternoon nap will probably also take place! There's always the possibility of shopping or Sea World, but nothing is planned. Friday we will definitely go back to Sea World, then next Saturday drive back.

I am pretty well packed. I will double check everything probably tomorrow and make sure I have what I want to take as far as clothes. I've been to the grocery store and have some snacks and whatnot. I need to go pick up a few frozen casseroles, but my biggest challenge at this point will be roasting the turkey and making the macaroni and cheese and getting them packed up. I have some green beans and rolls that will just need to be heated. I'm going to pick up ham, sweet potatoes, and a pie tomorrow. Mamaw is making dressing and a cranberry mold. I also have some wine, so all we will need is some tea once we get down there.

I'm so excited about getting away! I have been resisting the urge to download the iTunes season pass for Grey's Anatomy, and I have missed several episodes so far, so I am finally going to download them all and watch them in the car. Saturday morning can't get here quickly enough!

Slacking

I have been a slacker about a lot of things lately. I can always find SOMETHING to blame my slacker-ness on, which in the end only makes me more of one in the responsibility category. Let's start closest to home, shall we?

I have not been taking care of myself like I should. I am not eating well (and usually not on a regular schedule either!), getting out in the sunshine to walk, or any of a number of other things I know I should be doing. The one  thing I am doing more of is sleeping. On the one hand it's good because it's at normal hours. On the other hand it's not because, well, I'm not doing anything else!

I have not been the domestic diva I know I could be. I'm not cleaning the condo nearly as regularly as I should, I've all but given up on cooking, and errands really aren't getting done in a timely manner either. Again, I have plenty of excuses but the bottom line is, stuff just isn't getting done.

I have not been nearly as much of a go-getter about work. I'm still doing my job, but I'm definitely not doing the quality of work that I normally do or that I am happy with. Again, I'm full of excuses but it doesn't change anything. Thankfully I think I am bouncing back on this one!

I have not been nearly as good about getting my commissioning stuff done as I should have been. It's now one week from the due date and I'm still not done. I'm getting pretty close to being done, but I'm not there yet. I keep telling myself it's no big deal, I used to do this in school all the time and a week will be more that enough time, but I have a lot more distractions now (which is why I've slacked off this much up until now!) I know it'll get done, I just hope I'm happy with it!