A New Friend

Well, as I mentioned earlier, I was introduced to someone by a coworker. He is super nice, and not too hard on the eyes either. There are some complications though.

Complication #1 - He is divorced. This isn't really a big deal, except that it wasn't amicable, and there is no guarantee that she is o.k. with him dating. I certainly don't want to make life difficult for him, which she has the power to do, all because of Complication #2.

Complication #2 - They were blessed with 4 kids while they were married. That is some heavy baggage, and none that I want to take on right now. Plus, 3 of the 4 are girls, and I am not sure how they would feel about their daddy dating. I have a feeling that could be a very sensitive subject.

At this point, we have decided to be just friends. We plan to hang out and get to know each other, which is great. I really enjoy his company, and we get along really well. All I am hoping for is a great friend out of the deal, and with the place that I am at in my life, that is really all I need right now.

It's Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all! I hope everyone's day was as great as mine. It was pretty relaxed, and not very stressful at all. Much different than usual.

We started the day with a trip to church for mass, which was beautiful and crowded. The whole family attended, including Sister B's boyfriend. It was really nice to have everyone together.

After that, we headed to Grommie's for lunch and presents with her. All of the aunts and uncles were there, and we all had a good visit, and good food. Instead of the typical Christmas dinner, we had ribeyes and baked potates. I think we were all thankful for a change in the menu. Then we had all of the usual desserts and sweet stuff, although I avoided most of them like the plague.

We returned home late in the evening. After unwinding a little and getting comfortable, we decided it was time to see what Santa had brought for all of us. We got all kinds of good stuff! It was a really great holiday, and being surrounded by family and no stress made it even better, in my opinion.

Oh, I also got a couple of texts on Christmas from a special someone. Very unexpected, but nice. More to come about him.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Well, it wasn't quite Christmas yet, but when there are several families to visit, it gets spread across days.

Our Christmas eve was a little different this year than it has been in the past. Instead of a party that ran late into the night at my grandpa's, we met early and got G-momma out of the nursing home for a little while. She really enjoyed being at home, even if it was just a short time.

After she was deposited back in her bed for the evening, we cleaned up my grandpa's house and relocated our half of the party. None of us were ready to call it a night yet, so my aunts and uncles and cousins and grandpa packed up and headed for our house. We broke out the dominoes and got a game of 42 going. My cousins brought Apples to Apples and got some people in on that action. It was really nice to have the evening to focus on family and enjoying each other's company.

I also got a surprise text from someone special. I got introduced to a person by a coworker, and he is a really great person. We started texting right before Christmas, but I didn't expect to hear from him on Christmas eve. More about him in the future. ;)

An Early Christmas Dinner

I work in the environmental department at a large company in a neighboring town. One thing I learned quickly when I went to work there two years ago was that we eat. Give us any excuse, and we will plan quite a meal. Even monthly birthday parties are reason enough to have a huge homemade cake, courtesy of Cake Lady J. She makes some amazing cakes, too!

Today, we had the great occassion of Christmas dinner. Everyone brought amazing foods, and we all gathered together for some great fellowship. We enjoyed smoked turkey, ham, homemade dressing, sweet potato casserole, homemade gravy, and the list goes on and on. I provided green bean casserole, and got some really nice compliments.

I can't leave out the dessert table though. Cake Lady J made her famous red velvet cake with heavenly icing. We also had pies, and a blueberry thing, and a chocolate layered pie thing. It was all SO great!

I work with an awesome group of people. We said grace before anyone ate, and we all shared some great stories and experiences. I can't imagine working with a greater group of people! Even the GMO and his right-hand lady joined us. It was really a great start to the Christmas holiday for me. It may have been just what I needed to get me past this funk I have been in lately.

Well, my 1001 days (officially) started on December 1. I have updated my list, since I kicked off with a trip to Vegas. There is a picture for proof (our hotel, New York, New York), but I will post about the whole trip soon.


Travel & Adventure
1.Skydive.
2.Visit Europe.
3.Visit Australia.
4.Visit Tennessee or Colorado for a music festival.
5.Get a passport.
6.See the turning of the leaves in Connecticut or Vermont – somewhere with fall foliage.
7.Go skiing at least once.
8.Spend a weekend in NYC.
9.Spend a weekend in Las Vegas. We just got back from a 4-day trip. It was AMAZING! Exactly what I needed.
10.Take a train ride.
11.Go to the East Coast.
12.Take a North East city tour; Boston, Philly, DC etc.
13.Go ice skating at least once.
14.Visit an amusement park (0/3).
15.Go to the zoo at least once.
16.Visit 5 museums (0/5).
17.Do a Plantation Tour and stay at one of the (hopefully haunted) plantations.
18.Go to Branson, MO.
19.Go to the Renaissance Festival in costume.

For Me
20.Buy a new camera. Got one for Christmas, courtesy of little sis B.
21.Move into my own place.
22.Find at least one personal moment of happiness every day for 1001 days (6/1001).
23.Go on a picnic.
24.Have a spa day.
25.Spend 2 entire (non-consecutive) rainy days in bed (0/2).
26.Spend 2 entire (non-consecutive) sunny days outside (0/2).
27.Create a recipe book.
28.Organize and update my address book.
29.Get a pedicure once a month (0/33).
30.Save all my change during the 1001 days and buy myself something special after the list is complete.
31.Pick flowers.
32.Watch 26 movies you’ve never seen starting with each letter of the alphabet. Keep track of all of them.
33.Go to an IMAX movie.
34.Watch AFI’s 100 Years 100 Movies (0/100).
35.Buy an SUV.
36.Get a facial.
37.Completely color a coloring book.
38.Don’t bite my nails for 60 days (0/60).
39.Buy a teapot and master the art of making tea.

For the Better Good
40.Plant a garden.
41.Volunteer at an animal shelter.
42.Volunteer with Habitat for Humanity.
43.Donate 250,000 grains of rice through freerice.com (2220/250,000).
44.Help 10 strangers (1/10).
45.Adopt a soldier with Soldiers’ Angels.
46.Tip 100% to an exceptional server.
47.Donate clothes every 6 months (0/5).
48.Reduce my energy consumption by replacing bulbs and using shut off powerstrips.
49.Plan meals for a week (0/10).

Health & Fitness
50.Buy a bicycle.
51.Take a vitamin every day for 30 days (0/30).
52.No fast food for 30 days (0/30).
53.Exercise 3 times a week for 8 weeks (0/24).
54.Stop eating past 8:30pm for 3 weeks (0/21).
55.Try yoga.
56.Get a massage once a month (0/33).
57.Try a body cleanse.

Personal Growth
58.Organize my digital photo albums and back up my external hard drive.
59.Complete a 1,000 piece puzzle.
60.Say “yes” when I’d rather say “no” 10 times (0/10).
61.Pray daily for a month.
62.Say “no” when I want to say “no” 5 times (0/5).
63.Take a cooking & baking class.
64.Go to a shooting range.
65.Learn how to say “thank you” in 10 different languages (0/10).
66.Go to sleep no later than 10:30pm for one straight work week (0/5).
67.Go to bed no later than 9:30 to read once a week for 10 weeks. (0/10).
68.Get in touch with someone that I have lost touch with.
69.Participate in a 26 Things Challenge.
70.Complete a half marathon.
71.Complete a full marathon.
72.Try a new recipe every month (0/33).
73.Complete the “100 novels everyone should read list” (15/100).
74.Read 30 books that are not on the “should read” list (0/30).
75.Complete 5 sh1ft.org projects (0/5).
76.Eat food from home for a month, with one cheat meal per week.
77.Complete the 5,000 question survey on livejournal.com
78.Make a map to document all the places I travel.
79.Go without TV for a week.
80.Learn to crochet.
81.Laugh daily (5/1001).

Friends & Family
82.Spend more time with my family in general (stress-free time that is).
83.Take more family photos, and organize them all.
84.Book a girl-only vacation.

Finances/Business
85.Pay off all of my credit card debt.
86.Pay off all of my student loan.
87.Start an “under the mattress” savings account.
88.Build up six months of savings.
89.Have a garage sale to clear out the clutter.

Seasonal
90.Each fall go pumpkin picking (0/2).
91.Visit a haunted house for Halloween (0/2).
92.Every summer go tubing.
93.Each winter have the Christmas tree up before December 1.
94.Each spring spend an entire afternoon at the beach (0/3).
95.Each spring plant flowers (0/3).
96.Each summer go swimming at least twice (0/3).

For the List
97.Create a blog about list progress and life.
98.Write in the blog weekly (1/136).
99.Have a drink to celebrate day 1001!
100.Donate $5 to the Caring Bridge for every goal not met.
101.Donate $5 to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for every goal met.