new year

and a new start!

coming out of a fairly busy holiday season, i'm quite glad to have things going back to some semblance of normal. we had a great time with friends and family, visiting and enjoying each other's company.

i got my office totally cleaned out and ready to go for the year work wise, and actually found the carpet in there. my very neglected craft space is also tidied up, and i even got some pages done last night from pictures from last january's trip to mazatlan and put into the album. looking forward to spending a little more time on my scrapbooking again. alas, the pictures from cuba are still not all downloaded, nor uploaded to costco for printing. will need to get to that in short order!

with work this year there a new beginning. we've (co-workers and myself) been transferred to a new third party company that sounds like it actually cares about who we are and what we do as field sales reps. that came into effect yesterday. we met a couple of our contact ladies at our meetings the beginning of december. i've had more emails from them in the last 2 days (count 3) that i did not solicit, than i have from the last company in 2 years. (oh yes, they were great.... NOT)

i didn't do any boxing week shopping, just didn't feel like battling the crowds, nor do i really need anything. dh and ds1 did, however, brave walm*rt on boxing day and came home with more than what they had planned. they found a great deal on a bravia tv for our kitchen. we haven't had a tv on the main floor of the house for close to 5 years. this is a big change for us. i can actually watch the news! i know it will change our viewing habits dramatically! (not that it is a good thing all the way around... that its on just because is something we'll have to work on) we are not typically big tv watchers, but now its just that little bit too convenient, it is on!

we're still in the midst of a crazy cold, snowy winter. the weatherman is teasing us with + side temperatures towards the end of this week. i sure hope he's right, or i'm sure that someone may get lynched. it started the day after we got back from cuba and really has not let up since.

the weather is good for ds1 though, who asked for, and received, a snowblower for christmas from his grandpa. it had just been sitting in their garage, and hadn't been used more than twice, so he is feeling very lucky! he has had it out a couple times since christmas, and is thoroughly enjoying his man toy! he has a job shovelling/mowing for a man across the street, and heck, why not snowblow everyone else's while he's at it?? LOL good kid!

we have a little getaway planned for february to great falls, montana for a shopping/long weekend trip. because of the family day holiday we get here, its nice to have that little break in the middle of the long winter.

looking to march, with work we're heading to blue mountain resort in collingwood, ontario. us "girls" were hoping to be able to go there a couple days early to spend some time together (read shopping trip to buffalo, ny) but its not looking good with flights and such. we so rarely see each other, and don't often have the opportunity, but it would have been nice to spend a little more time together.

and then there's the last new year/beginning. its not bad, but since we came home from holidays i just haven't been able to shake the 10 pounds off my behind that was acquired from the great cuban food we had. then came the bit of overindulgence that is christmas... yummy baking, too much wine and drink, and other high calorie nibbles. so yesterday i started back on my strict diet i really need to follow to get pounds back off. other than being hungry right now (this too shall pass)it should only take me a few weeks. i just need to pass on the carb overload and fatty foods that have been hanging around the house. thank goodness the fridge is back to normal, and the last of the goodies are gone (not to mention easy stuff to throw in the oven and eat just because its there!) i've also started doing a bit of a workout thanks to ds2's wii. i'm not into heavy sweaty crazy workouts (i just don't enjoy it) so its been fun to do a 1/2 hour or so on it and not feel like i must do it every day.

my mom and dad are off to palm springs for the next few months, leaving on saturday. i'm hoping they enjoy their time away in the warm!

happy new year everyone - and i hope your year is off to a good start as well!