Holiday, Oooooh Holiday!

Considering the fact that I have been essentially celebrating Christmas since December 15, the actual day was quite smashing! Neen and I headed out of town on Christmas eve, late afternoon. We actually talked the entire way home, and we did not argue about anything (shocking, I know)!

We stopped by big bro’s apt to help him finish up his Christmas gift to our parents. Last weekend he asked my sister and I to make a 1-2 minute video message saying how appreciative and loved we felt. While I do love my parents very much and I am very appreciative of all they have given us over the years, I do not love the video camera. Thanks to the digital age, we are capable of taking 19 shots of the same photo opportunity until we are happy with what we get. A video is a running, streaming reminder of what I look like and how I sound, I am not a big fan of that. I put it off for as long as I could, and avoided my brother’s phone calls for a few days, to no avail. We ended up doing a collective video of the four us, the originals plus the newest Jenn C. It is entertainingly and delightfully flawed. We were all happy with it. “It” was a dvd collection of our greatest pictures from the wedding, the road trips and the get-togethers.

I was honestly touched by the generosity shown by mine and Ryan’s families. I am fortunate enough to get to celebrate Christmas with his family every year (amazingly smart to celebrate Christmas a bit early to get people together!). I brought home so much fun loot and this year, there isn’t one gift that I traded to my sister or tried to figure out how to return it quietly. My new candles/diffuser are already proudly on display, my new pj pants have been sported around the apartment on several occasions, I’ve watched my secret indulgence on dvd and put up my new calendar; I’ve even re-organized my closet based on my new hangers. The gifts I gave this year were quite a hit. My brother and I got each other the same thing, a gorilla pod. We both bragged to Neen about it, it’s fantastic features and flexibility and how neat the gift was. Then she called us both and spilled the secret.
After all the celebrating and gift giving, Neen and I headed home. And that’s where the fun stops. For years I have bragged about my ticket-free driving record. Well, there is a first time for everything. I got my first speeding ticket ever in my nearly 8 years of driving. Of course, it was given to me in Waldo (grumble grumble). I have driven that road countless times in the 6 years that I’ve lived in Gainesville and have always been careful of my speed in that horrible area. I have no excuses, the police officer was fair and not rude or awful. I was speeding (because I wasn’t paying attention) and I got a ticket, a very expensive mistake. I held it together, though with shaking hands, until I got home and everything hit me and the tears spilled out. I am currently going through a self-imposed financial punishment for the month of January. No more coffee/bagel treats at work, no OG this month, no Panera soup and salad and no new clothes this month. Ouch. My ticket will definitely be a lesson learned. The fun part is, I get to plead “no contest” in a hearing to see if the judge will have mercy on me and wipe away the bad... wish me luck and think of me at 2:30 on January 31.

Happy holidays!

workouts and cocktail dresses.

oy. So this morning, after having a week of 85/65 high's and lows, it was 34 degrees outside. I was struggling last night to convince myself to get up early this morning to workout, but I faithfully set my alarm and told myself, "There's no getting around this, you need to shape up, woman!" Well before the alarm went off (4:15ish), Ryan was out of bed hunting for something to help his stomach feel better and I was in bed hunting for a comfy spot despite the sudden lack of snuggle partner. After that, sleep was just all downhill. I was completely parched, but too cold to get out of bed. Working out and then going to work did not sound like fun, so I spent the last 45 minutes not sleeping, but dreading the workout. By the time I got out of bed, working out seemed a lost cause, but I at least forced myself out of bed early so as not to ruin the earlier morning routine. However, I couldn't allow the early time to be completely useless, so I prepared a healthy snack and meal, then (finally) pulled the laundry out of the dryer, folded it and started a new load.
I fully intend to take a nap this afternoon and then I will think seriously about an afternoon workout. My goal is to make up for the 15 minutes I would have done this morning by drinking lots of water, not eating all the little goodies around here and not buying coffee downstairs. Looking at pictures from the party this weekend, I'm thinking it's my efforts need to see more enthusiasm. Not bad, just need to be better.

my handsome man with me in my pretty new dress:
mags and zac:
Left to right: me, Shelly, Dr. V, Susan and Dr. Su
Dr. A and Shelly
Left to right: Zac, Nora, Maggie, Rachel, me and Ryan
Mags, Susan and me:
Mags, me and Nora:

I drank my second glass of wine pretty quickly. I was a bit giddy and by the time I got home, all I wanted to do was get to bed! The party was fun, getting all dressed up was excellent and the night overall was just lovely.

numerology...

5 - # of consecutive that I have gotten my butt out of bed early enough to squeeze in a workout

50 - # of crunches done on the stability ball on aforementioned 5 days

17 - # of lbs I want to drop

6 - # of lbs I dropped in 2007 (and didn't even realize it!)

11 - # of days before Christmas

1 - # of gifts I have left to purchase

2 - # of Holiday parties this weekend

81 - today's high temp (it's December, people! come on!)

17 days before Christmas!

As I've mentioned before, Christmas is my favorite time of year. This will be mine and Ryan's fourth Christmas together. How very exciting. Every year it gets better and better.

Here is a quick peek at me and Ryan's Christmas tree and presents!

http://s5.photobucket.com/albums/y157/jcueva/?action=view&current=3568c1e4.pbw

i need this.

and you can get it here. http://www.snorgtees.com/thisiswhyimhot-p-381.html

41 degrees this morning

Hello cold weather! Nice of you to join us this winter.

21 days until Christmas! I cannot even begin to explain how excited I am. I have the urge to go shopping just about every day, always thinking “Just need to knock one more person off the gift lift, just one more…” Packages are beginning to arrive and ebay auctions are flying. I can’t seem to win often enough b/c I am not ruthlessly bidding higher and higher and higher. This year I actually knew what I wanted. Most years, I sort of flounder about throwing random ideas about what I like and would enjoy having, but nothing that really shot out at me. There is a slight tinge of guilty spamming in my head about not being greedy, which is possibly the reason I am so tirelessly shopping and thinking of who/what is left to be gifted.
Our tree is looking quite lovely. Hopefully, I will post pictures soon. I have taken lots with my new camera. The living room was recently rearranged. It looks fantastic, as if Ryan and I actually use our living room and enjoy being in it. The new layout even works great for the tree as it is the first thing you notice upon entering our lovely, little home. Around the holidays, quality time feels like higher quality. In the back of my mind, I’m always snuggling a little closer, squeezing a little tighter, smiling a little bigger or talking a little faster in excitement over revealing all the fantastic things that will be unwrapped on Christmas day.
I picked up a very large package and another small package from the post office yesterday. The small package was Ryan and the big package contained some presents for me and some presents for friends. I had to sit all alone in the apartment with the big ass box until Ryan came home to relieve my anxiety. I kissed him hello and promptly sent him off to open the package and remove the large elephant in the room. I’m officially doing my mom’s Christmas shopping, as she is too busy (and possibly a bit too clueless) to get out there on her own. She has also asked me to wrap the gifts that I collect on her behalf. I’m thinking that somewhere in this, there is some sort of mother-daughter opportunity. However, this would require a trip somewhere, Jacksonville or Orlando, and that takes more time, thus eliminating the purpose of me doing the shopping for her. Perhaps, we shall make it happen anyway.
Piano lessons continue to be a joy, though challenging. “Oh, come all ye faithful” is painful to go through. My nerves get the best of me during lessons and I can’t seem to get through the song. I hate the words “Make it lyrical” as I am not naturally musically gifted. Any talent that develops is out of shear desire. I am both excited and nervous by the idea of playing for my family at our Dec. 15 get-together and again for my family in Jacksonville.
It’s a beautiful time of year. Hooray for Christmas!