Oops it's Monday

Meant to post yesterday and lost a day somewhere. Caught up the work blogs this morning so time to update you too.

Last week was really busy but mostly with school board and nonprofit board meetings. We had a 3 hour work session on closing one of the middle schools, the regular board meetings the next night and a debriefing on the failed override on Wednesday. By end of day Wednesday I was pretty fried on school district issues!

The exciting news for this week is an upcoming presentation in town by the woman I studied with last spring for nonprofit consulting. She'll be traveling through the area and offered to do a free workshop if we let her sell her books at the end. There is so little opportunity for live education in our area, I'm hoping people will turn out.

Today I got to sit on in on the City Council's visioning process at their annual retreat. I was one of four Chamber of Commerce reps, though I'm relatively new to that board and still learning the ropes. It was an interesting afternoon and the people present have an exciting view of our future. Hope at least parts of it can be moved forward. We want to be ready when the economy eventually turns up!

This week I have the annual meeting for the 4 year university group. Our progress is stalled at the moment due to the economy but trying to move ahead. I was the only one willing to put the dinner/meeting together so have been chasing a few last minute details. I have been promised that if I become an officer of the board I won't have to do this job again :-)

Saturday we have a board retreat for the youth organization I'm involved with. Thankfully, I don't have to facilitate. The Exec and I are putting the agenda together with a volunteer facilitator. Excited to see what comes out of it and awaiting Sunday as a day of rest.

I did start Guitar Guy's socks yesterday but don't have enough progress (and am too lazy) to take a picture. Liking the pattern so far. Did have to order another skein of yarn since men's socks are bigger. Figure I can use it at the toes of the color is too different.

Off to bed and my comfy pillow.

Happiness Project

I just started reading Gretchen Rubin's "The Happiness Project" so celebrate the new year. Who isn't in favor of more happiness?

What I like about it so far: each person will create their own happiness project, not follow a prescribed pattern. Changes are added one at a time, building on successes. This is basically the process I've been following to change to a healthier diet. Other than starting to add in some exercise, I'm not inclined to make a lot of changes this year.

Had a great time in Phoenix with Nicole and my friend Kathe last week. Indian food, Sherlock Holmes and a road trip to Tucson were on the agenda. My grandcats were very happy to see me as well. They've recovered from the trauma of Christmas at our house and claws are healing.

Yesterday I finally took down all of the Christmas decorations and cleaned the front of the house. Guitar Guy was out and about so I turned up my music and sang loudly while I was cleaning. Still have more decluttering to do (and we won't talk about the garage) but now I can take that a little at a time.

Finally am starting socks for Guitar Guy. He's been complaining for months that I've never made him anything. Decided on #One Husband socks. Hopefully by next week I'll have a picture. Now off to choose the yarn and wind.

Happy Sunday!

Is it really 2010?

I can't believe how quickly the holidays went by! Of course having a cold and sinus infection sort of put me out of action for a couple of days. Thankfully I caught the sinus infection early and the antibiotics seem to be kicking its butt. I'm trying to be patient with myself which is why my Christmas decorations are still up. Hopefully I'll at least get the tree down tonight. I enjoy the lights, so waiting doesn't really bother me.

The big news of the weekend is that Rowan is now mobile. He's moving fast, eating out of the dog bowl and tearing pages from books. Kind of glad he held off until he got home as our house is not baby proof. I'm hoping to get to see him at the end of January if I can find a reasonable air fare.

I also need to get out to see my dad again. A family friend he's known since I was a baby died this weekend. At 92, there are so few people left who share his memories that losing one more is very hard. Getting old is definitely not for the weak.

Tomorrow I'm off to Phoenix for a couple of days. My best friend from college is coming in for a conference so we'll try to catch a few hours together at least. Beats me traveling to Omaha, NE. The last time I was there we were up at 2 AM keeping track of tornado movements.

I hope you all had good holidays and are ready for whatever 2010 throws at us.

Happy New Year!

Rowan as Santa Claus supervises present opening on Christmas morning
Rowan's new Christmas outfit from Grandma and Papa
Pop and Rowan open baby's first remote control with buttons that make noise!
Nicole prepares to decorate sugar cookies. The green sugar is particularly popular this season :-)

A great holiday week but I am now officially exhausted! Rowan arrived with a cold and ear ache so now all of us have colds to match his. He has left to go home but his virus remains :-)

The people had a good time but not the cats. Nicole's cats and mine had some serious issues this visit. Although they've been together before, it has been a while. Merry was particularly annoying and slightly stalkerish. Much hissing ensued. Occasional growling and batting took place over the course of the week. Unfortunately Pippin and Micah somehow became entangled and each suffered a broken claw and bleeding on Christmas Eve day. $275 for an emergency vet visit later, both were treated, disinfected and given antibiotics. We won't be trying this again!

The week went much too fast and I abandoned my Weight Watchers log about 3 days ago. The kids all headed home today so the house has become very quiet. Back to reality tomorrow. Hope you and yours had a wonderful holiday too!

Almost ready

My grandson just finally fell asleep and reminded me why having children is a younger person's game! Thank goodness he's so cute.

Cookies are baked and presents are wrapped.

My nose is starting to stuff up and my throat was sore this morning. Sounds like a typical Christmas :-)

Nicole's cats have mostly quit fighting with mine (except for the occasional snarl or growl) I figure they will all be getting along famously by the time hers go home.

HoHoHo and Merry Christmas.

Family arrives soon!!!

Sorry for not posting for a while. I got distracted by work and trying to make a dent in my messy house. I decided tonight that I absolutely will not get everything clean and tidy before the kids get in. I'll just keep working at it and do what I can. As I get older I'm looser about such things. After all, my kids grew up in this house and they know my lack of housekeeping interest :-)

The tree is up but only half the ornaments are on it. I can't find the stocking hangers or the rest of the Christmas decorations. Breathe deeply and go with the flow - breathe. . . .

Cards are mostly out and my dad's box is sent. Most of the Christmas shopping is done but I still need to wrap. I've been through the recipes and bought most of the baking ingredients. Decided to wait to bake until company comes. I'm now approaching 25 lbs of weight loss and don't want to be too tempted by all those goodies.

Tomorrow my partners and I are going to lunch and celebrating our first full year of business. We each made low 4 figures this year from the business but we paid the bills and are growing a little. We'll keep moving forward - slow and steady.

So excited to have all of the kids here, including our friend Briana, who will soon be leaving on a plane from Ghana! Rowan will be here on Sunday (with his parents). I bought baby food tonight for the first time in about 22 years. Too much fun.

Off to hang a few more ornaments

Procrastinating

I could be working on finishing Christmas cards tonight. I could also be wrapping Christmas presents. I don't feel like doing either. Think I'll watch the Phoenix Suns instead and play on the computer instead.

It's been cold in the desert this weekend. That may sound like whining to those who live in snowy country but morning lows in the high 30's are chilly. We finally got to light the fireplace and enjoy the play of flames. The cats like to sit on the hearth and gaze in to the fire. It feels very cozy.

Not much new on the knitting front. Since I decided not to do Christmas knitting this year I haven't made much progress in anything. I might do one more hat for Rowan - one with ear flaps for those frigid Iowa winds.

That's all for now - hope your week gets off to a good start!