Pine Curtain Refugee

Sunday, January 13, 2008

At least I'm not the only one.

It seems that I am having problem posting with any sort of regularity of late. It's not because I don't have anything to share. I do. It's just that it seems like I'm extra busy with work and life and extra tired, and late at night, when I normally blog (like now), I'm just too wiped to do so.

But you know what? Most of the bloggers whose work I most often read are also having their own dry spells, going days--if not weeks--between posts.

What's wrong with us? How do we get our mojo back? Sigh...

I will let you in on one little piece of news: BH and I have been beginning to talk about our honeymoon destination. We decided to each write down 10 places we wanted to go and then share our lists and go from there. The only guideline was that the destinations would have to be somewhere that could be enjoyed in just a week's time (since that'll be about as much time as we can both spend away from our jobs and the Geej). And also, the list could include places you'd been before but wanted to return to. So last night we decided to share our lists, and we managed to narrow our potential destinations down from 20 to just 10. Here they are (in no particular order)--

Texarkana, TX/AR (It's twice as nice!)

The Poconos (so classy)

Atlantic City, NJ

Detroit, MI

Gary, IN

Orlando, FL (All Disney, all the time.)

Provo, UT

Texas City, TX (Refinery tour!)

Fargo, ND (but only if we can postpone our trip until January '09)

Juarez, Mexico

Branson, MO

Don't those places sound romantical?

Oh, and I have to share 3 of my favorite Geej-isms with you. Lip balm is called "lipchap," heart beats are "heartbeeps" and geckos are "eggos." She also told me tonight that she liked the buttons on my pajamas so much, she wanted "to just eat them up!" And I caught her sticking her toes in her mouth while she was in the bathtub tonight. She is just too weird for words.

Okay, off to bed. More soon. I promise.

Monday, January 07, 2008

Much goings on.

Hell. Oh. Friends.

Yes this year has started out with much business and activity. So to catch you all up, I'm going to have to sort of list it out with little creativity if I have any hopes of covering it all, so please forgive.

In no apparent order:

I got my hairs did, and decided--for some unknown reason--to get bangs cut. Yeah...not such a good decision. Within 3 days, I was done with them. HATING them. So now, I'm wearing a barrette in my hair almost full time in order to subdue the sheer bang-iness of them. A nearly 39 year old with a barrette? Pathetic.

BH's two sons J-13 (initial-age) and F-7 arrived in town on 12/27. It was so great to see them, and mostly to see BH with them. After being apart for nearly 2 mos., the reunion was long overdue. We went for a big family weekend (a gift of my future mother-in-law) at the Hyatt Hill Country in San Antonio. Much fun for the kids, and the adults. In fact, the weather was so perfect during the day, that it was warm enough for the kiddos to SWIM in the outdoor (heated) pool, while at night, it was cool enough to bundle up and go on a horse-drawn carriage ride. Awesome. Another thing that was awesome? The future MIL also gifted me an hour-long massage at the hotel spa. Niiiiiiiiiiiiice.

Geej and F-7 got along SO well. They played together like champs. It was an utter delight.

New Year's Eve was insanely low-key. Like, OLD people low key. We just hung with the kiddos, ordered pizza, watched an episode of the Planet Earth DVDs I got BH for Christmas (after the F-7 and Geej had gone to bed, of course...I mean, animals EAT each other and stuff on that show), and went to bed by 11pm. Lame, but very nice.

New Year's Day, F-7 flew home to Colorado with his mom, and J-13 went to College Station for a few days to visit a family friend of theirs. Geej went to Dah's house (because school was still closed, and both BH and I had to work the following day), and BH and I went to see "Walk Hard" at The Alamo. On a scale of 1 - 10 for funny, I'm only going to give this one a 5.5.

Back to work, and sort of to normal for the rest of the week except for the big news of the week, which was: BH and I finally settled on a place, time, and venue for our nuptials. It's taking place in April, immediate family only, and will be followed by a honeymoon and then a celebratory party for friends and extended family. Whoot! Now, of course, the diet begins.

Friday, Geej came back from Dah's, and Saturday, J-13 came back from College Station. It was insanely warm and gorgeous outside, so we cooked out and had another low key night hanging at home.

Highlight of Geej's and J-13's time together? When she asked him, very seriously, "Will you help me put my baby's outfit on her?" He politely declined. Second favorite moment, when she asked him, "Have you ever had pudding? It's kind of like Jello, but not really." The look of wincing disdain on his face was utterly priceless.

Yesterday, BH sent J-13 home on an airplane. I know it must've been extremely difficult to say goodbye. He had such an energy about him when his boys were here. I can't wait for them to be in Texas full time, so the stress of long separations isn't a part of his reality. He's planning on going up there for a visit in early February. As he said, "Two months is just too long." I absolutely agree.

Today it was (sort of) back to normal. Everyone's back at work, and the pace of things is definitely picking up. The traffic is returning to normal. And tomorrow, Geej goes back to school after over 3 weeks away. Lordy. The poor child is oh so bored with us. She was so excited about school tomorrow that it was nearly impossible to get her to wind down for bed tonight.

So tomorrow, it's back to normal for real. The routine of getting up, making the lunches, getting her ready, getting her to school, and getting to work--hopefully within time to actually snag a legal parking place at work--begins again.

2008: Do I have any resolutions? Well, none per se. I would like to stick with my "read at least one book a month" rule I set for myself (and surpassed) for 2007. And I'm earnestly trying to swear less in daily conversation. Those of you who know me and my fondness for the f-bomb are most likely laughing outloud right now. But seriously: my cussing had gotten so out of control, that I didn't even hear myself do it anymore. Classy, right? So my goal is to reign it in by about 75%. The benefits of this are two-fold: not only will I not sound like a white trash sailor with Turette's, it will also make those times when I DO say "Fuck" that much more pleasurable and meaningful. And I'm also planning to ease myself back into some state of physical fitness. Tomorrow I start a twice-a-week yoga workshop (my Christmas gift to myself). I am SO excited about this, people. Ever since that stupid surgery back in late 2006, I've felt completely disconnected from my body. I'm unhappy with how I look and how I feel. So January's all about yoga. February's going to be about yoga and diet. March is going to be about yoga, diet, and aerobic walking. And that's it. Just establish a routine where these things are a part of my life--slowly over three months--and stick with it as best I can.

Happy New Year to y'all, by the way. I recently passed my 700th post, and I'm sort of amazed I'm still doing this. Thanks for reading--whether you're regular or not, whether I know you or not. This blogging thing has meant a lot to me over the past 700 posts. May I have the stamina and the stories to do 700 more.

That's it for now. There's more, including photos, but now it's 11:15, and I'm sweepy.

Oh, by the way, it's warm enough that I've got the kitchen window next to me open right now. Weird, no?