Happy New Year?...

I may just be one of those cynics who doubts the power of the new year and doubts the ability of people to change once a new year begins.  Everyone is making new year's resolutions and vowing to change for the new year, but over the years, I've finally stopped believing in the power of the new year.  I know that every resolution I've ever made has fallen on my own deaf ears.  I know that if I want to change a bad habit or start good ones, it's not going to happen just because the calendar happens to say January 1st.  

Does this make me a bad person?  Or just honest?

When I was a kid I would spend new year's eve with my Grama and my brother; he always went crazy cutting up confetti and then vacuuming it up later.  I loved watching the old shows that came on TV after midnight and eating popcorn.  I still love popcorn—thanks Gram!

When I was a teenager I was so caught up in the hype of new years.  I remember my parents going out and I was left to watch the ball drop on TV all on my own.  Just me and my teddy bear.  I would cry.  But why was I crying?  I don't think I even knew why other than that everyone on TV was partying with friends and snuggling up to the cutie next to them.  My boyfriend at the time wasn't home and I just felt so alone.  But why does it get so much more heightened because it's new year's eve?  Damn media and advertising.

Ever since I met my hubby I've had a new year's kiss at the stroke of midnight.  That I am thankful for.  I used to think that not being kissed at midnight was the worst thing possible!  Now, I hate to admit, I hate the idea even more, now that I know what it's like to have someone to hold for the new year and for every day after.  It's not about the power of new years, it's just knowing that with each year passing I become happier and happier that I've met the love of my life.  So, I guess I sometimes get caught up in the hype as well, even as an "adult."  After having years and years without it, I need my midnight kiss.

I work every new year's eve and I love to see people having fun.  Now I'm a part of those old memories I have from when I was a kid, I'm just not dancing it up; which is fine by me since I have two left feet.  I look forward to Twilight Zone marathons and Honeymooners marathons.  Now that is the joy of the new year; somethings that are old just never get old.  

So Many Toys to Play With, So Little Time...

This Christmas I received so many gifts that just touched my heart.  My family knows that I'm an old fashioned kind of girl; I love old movies (I finally have Casablanca!  What a beautiful movie!), antiques, and anything that looks retro.  I'm looking around our house right now and I just feel overjoyed with the gifts; my nativity scene is complete thanks to my hubby,

and I have a candle holder that is of Mary and Joseph with baby Jesus thanks to my Dad and his wife

—they're just beautiful additions to our house for the holidays.

I have two presents that I just can't stop looking at and smiling over; a retro phone and a retro radio.  I love them!  The phone is cordless, but looks like a retro rotary phone and the radio plays records, cds, cassettes, and has a hookup for my ipod!  

And today I received a gift from my mom that I just can't stop playing with: tons and tons of records!  They range from Michael Jackson's Thriller to The Carpenters.  Just like I love the smell of a book, I love the sound of a record! 

When I was cooking dinner for my hubby and folding laundry I couldn't stop listening to the raspy sound of the white noise from the records.  I loved every minute of.  Janis Joplin, Simon and Garfunkel, the Beach Boys—every record just makes me smile. 

Thanks mom for giving me a present that just keeps on giving and thanks to my hubby for giving me this retro piece so I have the ability to play them!  The last time I played records was when I was a little kid on my Grama's front porch storage room with my brother playing 45's on one of those small carrying case record players... needless to say, it's been a long time and I've missed that sound.  I can't wait to find old records and play them over and over again.  Now I just need to find a record holder so they don't get too scratched up!  So be on the lookout please... retro looking of course.

Tuesday Tea Quote...

Today's tea quote seems fitting for the conversation that I had with a friend today.  We both love to sing and it brings joy to our lives... sometimes it's just hard to find the nerve to sing your song...

"Those who wish to sing always find a song."

—Swedish Proverb

There Are Only a Few Things I Hate in Life...

Of the few things I hate in life, snow is one of them!  Well, not exactly the snow, but shoveling the snow, driving in the snow, and being just plain cold in the snow!  Don't get me wrong, I love to look at the snow, but when it comes to actually being in the snow, I've come to hate it!

In New York, we missed the white Christmas by a day, but I can't complain too much because there were a few snowflakes flying in the air.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't think I could live in a place where it's warm around Christmas; it's just, weird.  Although, I'm sure they're not complaining right now about the weather like I am.

Every year, my hubby and I argue over the clearing of our driveway.  It's one of the only things that we can't do without at least one spat.  It never fails.  He wakes me up way too early to help him shovel and I bitch and complain, but I put my winter jacket and boots on kicking and screaming!  I absolutely hate shoveling the snow.  My back hurts.  My feet get cold.  My glasses fog up.  The worst part of it all is, he doesn't give me the few minutes to get some warm caffeine into my system before working me to death.  Now, I may be exaggerating, but he's very OCD about how the driveway is cleared.

Now, first I have to say that our driveway is very steep.  If you come up our driveway, you have to use your parking break.  Every time.  And my little civic is not the best in the snow.  We only got about seven inches at our house, but when I came home from work early yesterday with only about three on the ground, my car still couldn't get up all the way.  It sucks!  I guess that's why the hubby insists on clearing the driveway until the blacktop shines.  First, we shovel out our cars, then we snow blow, then we get the shovels out and scrape it down to the blacktop.  Then, we either hope for the sun to shine or we put salt down to melt the last of it.  Then we have to clear a path for our stairs going up to our porch and our back porch and of course to our propane tank (did you know that you have to do that if you receive gas or propane from a company?  I didn't!).  It's just exhausting!  It took us about two hours today and I'm pretty sure that after we had lunch we both passed out for at least a half hour.  Ordering our lunch from the spot we like to go is kind of funny; I place the order and then they ask the name and when I say it's for my hubby they go, "Oh, it's for you guys!  Hi honey, we'll have that ready for you!"  It's kind of comical.  I guess we're eating out a little too much lately.  The ten pounds on my ass kind of helps tell that story a little better than my words could ever describe.

So, our snowstorm is over and our driveway is sparkling.  At the end of the day we're both so happy that it's over; we look at our neighbors' driveways and wonder why they would decide to wait until 6 p.m. to start shoveling and we're thrilled at our accomplishment.  Is it an accomplishment when you have the shiniest driveway on the block after a snowstorm?  Well, we think so.

We live in New York and we constantly wonder why the news overplays coverage of a snow storm.  We live in New York people!  It snows here!  Granted, the city got more than us this time around, but man can they beat a dead horse!  It snowed, wait for it to stop, stay at home until it's cleaned up, end of story, right?  Nope, never.  They need 24 hours of coverage like it's TBS covering "A Christmas Story"!

I survived the blizzard of 2010... or even better, I survived another round of my hubby and I clearing our driveway.  Go me!  Now, get me a heating pad, a blanket, and a cup of tea and I'll be happy.  Maybe some cuddle time too.

So Thankful...

On this Christmas Eve I've found myself very thankful for the gifts that God has given me; even more than the physical presents that are under the tree.  

I've been having a hard time with my faith lately.  Even though I know in my heart that during hard times I need to turn to God, a lot of the time, I turn away from Him when things don't go my way.  I start questioning myself, my daily intentions, and whether or not God loves me.  Sometimes I just need to have a little more faith; in God, in myself, and in the life that He has chosen for me and my family.  Sometimes it just doesn't work, the trying to convince yourself of these things, so I turned to an outside source; for me it was my priest.  So today, I'm thankful for him and the words he's spoken to me.  Instead of viewing myself as selfish and ungrateful, I know that desiring something for my life, can be very unselfish.  The desire to find my path is not selfish; it's part of being a human.

Today, I was able to spend the day with my family and enjoy a day off from work.  Christmas day is another day off.  Granted, no money, but I'm so grateful for the tradeoff of family time.  The homily at midnight mass spoke to me, especially after a previous talk with my priest, and I have a new sense of renewal on my outlook on things happening in my life.  Prayer can be a powerful thing.

My brother came home for Christmas Eve and my family and I enjoyed a night filled with eating, exchanging presents, and talking about how old we're all getting; this was concluded by us taking our blood sugars and blood pressures.  I'm not kidding.  Mine was pretty dang good: 91 for the blood glucose and 110 over 64 for blood pressure- I guess I'm not falling apart yet!  But this was our laugh out loud moment of the night, man, age is just creeping up on me, if this is what we find entertaining!  Well, that and 24 hours of a "Christmas Story"!

I can't wait to enjoy Christmas day with my hubby (his first time off since we've been together!).  The day has already started off great and I can't wait for it to end with us cuddled up on the couch watching "It's a Wonderful Life."  No other movie could be more telling.  

I'm thankful for all my blessings this Christmas.  I hope you enjoy the same happiness and find your own moment of sanity when the shopping is done and all the presents are finished being opened.  Remember Christmas and keep the reason for it in your heart.

Merry Christmas! 

What's that I hear... Is Christmas Near?...

So, I've been back from Florida for a few weeks now and the Christmas season is upon us.  Work is slowing down, which always happens during Christmas, but with having to install a new countertop and sink, I'm definitely feeling the pinch just a little more this time around.  I hate feeling like I'm not contributing a lot to our monthly bills; it doesn't happen a lot, just this time of year, and the hubby doesn't mind, but I sure do!  I can't wait for nights with bands or for football Sundays.  I like giving good presents, but I refuse to go into debt for them, so this year I can only do what I can do.  I just hope family and friends understand.

I loved my trip to Florida.  I loved seeing my friend and I loved seeing her home.  It's beautiful and I had so much fun helping her fill it with furniture and decorating.  But since there are still items that need to be delivered still, I'll have to keep the changes for a future post.  

The weather was great for the first two days, around eighty-six, but then within a day it dropped to the forties!  Now they're in the twenties with us!

Sunsets are pretty but it just changes so much when you're just trying to not go numb as the sun goes down.  

Don't get me wrong, right now I would love to feel forty degrees, but when you're on a beach in your sandals, you kinda hope that the weather stays just a little bit warmer.  

Quite possibly the coldest beach feet ever!

It was a strange change of scenery.  We were listening to Christmas music on the radio and all I thought was that it was July and I was on a tropical vacation (at least the first two days).  How can people in Florida enjoy Christmas?!  They're in shorts and t-shirts and looking at palm trees.  It's just not Christmas in my mind unless I'm freezing my butt off!

Nothing was dying at the time.  How do you enjoy the rebirth of things once spring-time comes?  That's what I love about the seasons.  Although, I hate this cold.  Did I mention that?  I just couldn't get in the Christmas spirit down there.  And I felt like I was dating my hubby again.  Instead of cuddling at night and being able to give him a kiss, I was waiting for phone calls and sweet talking with him at the end of the night before I went to bed in an empty room.  It just felt so foreign; especially at night.  

It's strange.  Now that I'm home I miss my bestie like crazy.  I loved being able to just hang out with my friend.  I always miss my hubby so much when I'm without him; it'd be nice to have her here to do things with when he's working and I'm off.  Maybe one day we'll live in the same area.  But then the daily grind of life gets in the way, so I guess it's never perfect.

The day after I came home (with a teary eyed reunion in the airport) my hubby went in for knee surgery. Let me tell you what that anxiety can do to a wife that didn't get enough sleep on the night before!  I was so worried that something would happen to him.  I'm not great with seeing people I love in hospitals, I'm always so afraid, even if it's just for something simple.  Thankfully I knew the nurses and the doctor so it made the hours waiting a little bit easier.

I'm actually glad that I went away when I did because I've had the past two weeks to enjoy some time with my hubby.  It's been great having him home. Spatting about silly things or just getting on each others' nerves because we've been in the house with each other for too long.  This never happens!  Normally I'm just missing him, it's kinda nice to get tired of each other sometimes.  The funny part is, I think that's happened twice. I'm enjoying the cuddling (he just laid his head down on my leg) and the fact that I'm able to talk to my best friend whenever I want to talk to him.  No calling him at work to say hello or to say I'm missing him.  He's right here, I don't have to miss him.  I do feel a little like the dorky housewife when I call him at work so I try to avoid it at all costs.  So having him home is a major plus, I love it.

I don't think I mentioned how much I love to smell is newly shampooed hair either?  Did I mention it?  Because it's a fabulous thing that Pantene on my hubby's head.

Last Monday my mother and I finally were able to get our Christmas tree up too.  Thank God for Mom or I'd go crazy trying to get the parts of the pre-lit tree to be lit.  For some reason, it just never works out in an easy way.

These past few weeks have been very busy I tell you.  I was getting a little crazy about the holiday getting closer and closer and I still didn't have any decorations up!  Normally I'm a little bit more on top of it, but with the surgery and the hubby being home and needing my help (well in the beginning anyway) the tree and decorations became less and less of a priority.

Our tree looks great and I love looking at the ornaments and remembering why they have special meaning or remembering why they were bought at the time.  Christmas ornaments make me happy.  There's always a story behind them.  

Me, the Hubby, and Luna- at least in my mind

My plan is to eventually have no tree fillers, but to have all special ornaments with meaning.  Eventually that will happen but I'm looking to do it over time.  I'm going to buy an ornament for our vacations we take and the memories that we want to mark.  I just wish the hubby liked to decorate it as much as my mom and I do.  But then again, it's becoming my little tradition with my mom, so I don't really mind that much.  Yet.

We finally have stockings too.  Our fourth Christmas together and this is our first with stockings!  How could I have missed this major part of my childhood traditions!  Better late than never I guess!

  

Our nativity scene is almost complete too.  This year I bought the shepherd and stable animals and an angel to look over.  

My hubby gave me an early Christmas present (we're kind of notorious for giving our presents over time because we're like little kids and a bit impatient; we joke that we should have been Jewish and celebrated Hanukah instead) of the angel stand.  I love that the nativity is looking more and more complete.  I love looking at the true meaning of Christmas.  No matter what, my nativity comes out before anything else.

Another present that I got a little early were my footie pajamas.  

How fabulous is that?!  When I was a kid I remember having a light purple colored, care bear pair of pajamas.  I used to love those things!  These ones have the drop butt bottom too.  How exciting!  Maybe I'm the only one who loves the idea, but why didn't people think that grownups would like footie pajamas too sooner!  I mean who doesn't want to stay warm in the winter?  Yup, I'm a dork.  But my hubby calls me Dorkarella because I'm his princess; kinda like Cinderella but, well, dorkier. 

So, the Christmas season is here and I'm freezing my butt off in New York, I'm feeling broke, and I've headed back to the gym (and can barely walk now!) because I've gained too much weight back over the past few months, but ya know what?  Things are great.  I can't wait to spend time with our families and I have an awesome little family that we're building together and I'm looking forward to the new year and what special things it could bring.  

Ever since I met my hubby I've only hoped that each new year is just as good as the last and I haven't been disappointed yet.  Things just keep getting better and better.

Tuesday Tea Quote...

"The great and glorious masterpiece of man is how to live with a purpose."

—Montaigne