The future is so bright....

I am SO looking forward to the new year! I am hoping and praying that by the time it is over, I will be in a new house in an old town with a new job and my "old" friends. I know a lot of people are looking to change their lives to something they have never known, but I am counting on being able to go home again! I am filled with hope for good things to come!

The pic is of a QUILT that was deemed the winner at the Houston International Quilt Show 2009. I think it is a beautiful work of art, and it perfectly captures how I am feeling toward 2010!

I'm glad last night is over...

It was a not-so-great night at work. I was running the entire night and I am exhausted now, but no one died and a lot of people feel better so I will put one in the WIN column. I am off until after the new year, so I am going to try and enjoy myself. There is going to be an eating d0-over at the neighbors on Friday. I hope we can give him a memorable send-off before he heads BACK to Iraq for a few more months. Wish us luck!

The root of all evil....

I ate this entire pie over 2 days. I ate every bite. I was thinking the whole time that it was alright because it is the holidays and everything would be fine...but it is time to pay the piper.

I am sick with guilt. I am swollen from all of the salt and sugar I have consumed over the past month. I am to the point that I feel like I am too fat to work out and I am embarrassed to go to the gym. This feeling is so horrible. Heed my warning...pie is the root of all evil!!

My pants are tight, it must be Christmas...

Here on the bright side, we had a wonderful Christmas! We had our little tree all stuffed with presents, a cozy fire, and if you look really close, we have our beloved Bridget roasting herself on the little rug in front of the tv!

We had our gift exchange in the morning and then ate some delicious breakfast casserole. We were invited to lunch at our neighbors house, and this is where the trouble began.

The neighbors are a marital mix of Georgia and Philly....Southern and Italian...good food and better food. You would have thought I had not eaten in years. I started in on the pigs-in-a-blanket, went to crab dip, stromboli, olives and even a few cookies... and this was before dinner! Then I ate the dinner!

Needless to say I came home last night in a great deal of pain and now I feel like I need to get on the elliptical and not get off until I have lost 40lbs! So all in all, it was delightful!

A huge mistake...

Somehow between yesterday and this morning I lost my mind and made a huge mistake. I got it in my head that it would be okay to go to the grocery store this morning...surely no one else would be there! Huge, huge mistake!

It was kill or be killed at Harris Teeter. I felt like I was in the middle of a prison riot. Masses of people, shelves picked clean, shoving, bumping carts...it was a total nightmare! And if you can picture it, the entire scene was being carried out to the blaring sounds of the Trans-Siberian Railroad or whatever that is called. I think they should have picked more soothing music because people were out of control.

Naturally, I endured this horror only to get home and find that I did not get the main ingredient for the BIG DISH on Christmas day. Typical. But I can't go back...I won't...you can't make me!

What a fine day!

Last night was soooo long, but only because it was the last day of the week for me! The most interesting thing that happened was getting a live centipede out of a guys ear! I have removed lots of "foreign bodies" , alive and otherwise from many an orifice, but never a centipede. Just when you think you've seen it all.

I plan on have a merry eve of Christmas Eve...sleeping and ordering a big ol' chicken florentine pizza when I get up! Yeah off days! Yeah pizza! HA!

It's a good thing...

It is a sunny day on the bright side! One night down at work and only one more to go! I am so happy :o)

I am also quite happy that I was FINALLY victorious in an ebay auction. I will post a picture of the spoils when it arrives in the mail...WOOHOO! It gave me such a little rush...it was kinda the same feeling as when I engaged in a ugly little wrestling match to catch a bridal bouquet back in the day. Victory is so sweet...

Wishing ain't gonna change it....

The bright side had a "snow day" yesterday and we had SO much snow that it didn't even cover the ground. You can look at yesterday's post for a visual.

I spent part of the day watching The Ironman Triathlon. Wow, there are so many inspiring stories of courage...one fella born without legs, a lady who had come back from a paralyzing stroke and a 76 yr. old man who finished his 20th race.

I really admire that kind of determination and wish I could run like the wind. Unfortunately, I run like a rock. I have tried many times to be a real runner. I have entered milers, 5ks & 8ks. Mind you I finished them all, but never running. I cannot find that joyful feeling that compels people to go out and run for fun....and I want that so desperately!

And making matters a little more painful for me is that my Beloved recently completed his first half marathon in September! The pic is from the start of that race! I am so proud of him!

So alas, here on the bright side, wishing won't change very much...do or do not, there is no try!

Baby it's cold outside...

It is still the pre-dawn hours on the bright side, but I can tell you for sure that there is NO SNOW! Coastal wind patterns have kept the snow to the west so there won't be snowmen on the sand dunes today :o( But on a happier note, I was up early, and able to walk my dog incognito wearing my pajamas under my coat and Uggs.

I think I will surprise my Beloved by inviting him to breakfast and a showing of "Avatar." The Christmas spirit is making me a little lightheaded!

To the left is a pic of the entire amount of snowfall we had last year! HA! It didn't even cover the nails in the deck :o)

on the happiness agenda for the weekend...

It is a cold and frosty morn here on the bright side, but a good one all the same. Traffic was light last night in the ER and the mood was a good one.

The weather for the weekend is calling for snow and I have no place I gotta be! WooHoo! I am looking forward to a whole weekend full of trash tv and takeout.

My Beloved is dying to see"Avatar" so that will probably happen sooner rather than later. I have not seen a 3-D movie since "Jaws III" so that should tell you something about me.

And who wouldn't want to spend some face time with this little darling...my sweet baby girl, Bridget, le bulldogue de francais!

I wanna be a winner...

So this week I have done something I have never done before....I put bids on some items on ebay. The one I wanted most was a beautiful Kate Spade bag in a lovely shade of GREEN. I lost by one dollar! AWWWWW MAN! Now I'm on a mission...I wanna be an ebay winner! However, it looks like the price of victory may be high on this one. Wish me luck!

I could see it coming...

Probably the most horrible thing that has ever happened in my life was watching my Dad die of metastatic cancer. It is so true that knowing a person is dying makes you put aside all of the things you think your "life" is....job, clothes, houses...and appreciate the essence of a person.

But I say all of that to say this. I received a Christmas gift from my Mother on Saturday...a quilt made from pieces of my Dad's shirts. It was such a wonderful patchwork of his work shirts, dress ones, casual ones...each one of theses fabrics bringing with them the memories of a complex yet ultimately simple man...many pieces that make one beautiful thing.

'Tis the season...

As the name of this blog indicates, I am trying to turn over some new leaves. One leaf in particular is to be more active in social events. It is not my nature to commune with groups of people under any situation. I am a loner, a hermit, a recluse. However, as I said to my husband, if we don't get out and start forming some bonds with society, we will die alone and no one will ever find us. This may seem like a gruesome reason, but it is a valid one.

So in the last few days I have been to a Christmas party for work and a holiday open house. I guess it went pretty well...I only had one panic attack and one sweat attack. I don't think I used any bad language or told offensive stories. I think my outfits were okay and there weren't any big lulls in conversation.

My Dad was the ultimate socializer and small-talker. He was the life of the party and he made his way to every social gathering from funerals to fish fries. He was the man. Clearly, I did not receive one shred of this gene. I see that progress will be slow.

It always comes back...

I got up nice and early to make it to Old Navy to take advantage of the big ol' door buster sales! Fleece jackets for $5! I didn't like the jackets, but I sure did like the sweaters and vests on sale! But the big story is that I found a ladies wallet in the parking lot and returned it to her. It was a good feeling and you know she was happy :o)

Then as I was checking out at the grocery store, they told me I was eligible for a promotion they were running and I had earned some gift certificates....I got a $25 gc to Old Navy (note the irony) and $25 to Regal Cinemas! WOW! All before 8:30am! So do something good for another....it always comes back...

A first time for everything...

It's my first time and I'm nervous. As reader of multiple blogs, it looked like fun. Now that I am at the jumping off place, actually posting a blog seems a little higher up than I thought it would be. But I am moving forward...inching toward the bright side.