Ringing In The New Year

It's hard to believe that it's New Year's Eve morning and we're about to bid farewell to 2007 and welcome in 2008. I wish I had some brilliant philosophical insight into this annual event but sadly it's not to be...waxing eloquently is just not my "thing."

This evening Rick and I will go over to Lynn's home to celebrate the New Year with family. We call this "New York New Year's" since we watch the New York Times Square TV feed at 9:00PM Pacific Time, blow our horns, sip our phony champagne, kiss each other and then head on home well before our West Coast midnight. It will be a quiet evening with food and entertainment of our own making. I'm bringing chocolate chip cookie dough fixings so that I can teach Elle (my 13 year old niece) how to make and then eat the yummy cookie dough right out of the bowl. She thinks I'm "cool."

So on this New Year's Eve, I want to wish everyone a happy and healthy 2008. May the New Year bring you and your families peace and joy.

Update (11:00AM): Well...as they say - "The best laid plans..." Lynn just called to tell me that she was up all night with our family's version of the stomach flu. She's been fighting sickness for the past two weeks and I think her resistance finally gave up. I feel so badly for her since I was exactly in her place a few weeks ago and I know how draining it can be. Anyway, our New Year's Eve plans are cancelled so Rick and I will spend the evening at home...just the two of us. That's OK with us...we can eat sensibly, watch a movie, sip our non-alcoholic champagne, watch the Times Square ball drop and then head off to slumberland at a reasonable hour. Happy New Year's!

Why Didn't I Listen To Myself?

Okay...in yesterday's post, I talked all about the new scale I bought and how I wasn't going to open it up until after New Year's just in case it was too accurate. Well...my curiousity got the best of me and this morning I took it out of its box, removed the little plastic tab so the battery would work and then placed it on the floor. How could I not get on it and take a peek? Ouch...bad idea. As I suspected, the very large digital display revealed a number that was several pounds more than my old scale. And, to add insult to injury, Rick got on the new scale and declared it pretty accurate since he weighs himself everyday on the "medical" scale at the YMCA. So here I am facing 2008 with several more pounds to lose. Sigh...

On A Scale Of One To...

Happy belated Christmas to me. My friend JAM and I went out shopping Thursday and what did I decide to buy for myself??? Well I've been talking about buying a new one for months and I've finally gone and done it...I've bought myself a new scale. Yep...a new digital scale. Are you impressed? Here's what it looks like:

Ever since I started my diet months ago, I've wanted a new scale. The one I currently have is the old fashioned dial kind which you can finagle by adjusting the dial up or down. It's just too tempting when the numbers aren't kind to me to move that little pointer back just a wee bit. Now I have a digital scale which won't allow me to do that and which is, according to the packaging, "within .2 lbs accuracy." And I made sure I got one which doesn't have a memory. The last thing I'd want from a "perfect" scale would be to allow Rick to see how much I weigh by pushing the memory button. No way...no how! Oh...and the weight displayed in the photo is not my current weight...trust me.

So where is the new scale? It's sitting in the box on the floor of my den with all the other gifts still to be put away. Today is diet "Weigh-In" day and I'm afraid to step on the new scale. I haven't lost any weight now in weeks (OK, maybe months) and I haven't been a very good dieter during this holiday season so I'm worried that this new accurate scale might reveal a number I don't want to see. So I'm thinking I'll use the old scale this week (just in case) and then open up the new scale as a way to start the new year. Yep...2007 was a pretty good year for me...why ruin it at the end.

The Aftermath

Whew...it's over. Nothing's put away, of course, but Christmas is really over. We had a lovely time at Rick's sister's house on Tuesday and, as always, we experienced Christmas chaos...wrapping paper, gift bags, bows, ribbon flying everywhere, thank-you's shouted out, camera flashes popping. We got home, after dropping my mom off at my sister's, and then promptly fell into bed exhausted. Rick was actually feeling kinda punky and is now recovering from his version of our family flu...thank goodness it's not the "stomach" variety.

Then yesterday I went over to Lynn's at 6:30AM so we could make it to the mall by 7AM. Last year, we did amazingly well with lots and lots of goodies at incredible savings. This year we were not so lucky. I'm not sure if the sales were so good before Christmas that all the best clothing was sold out but we found very little and the items we did like were not listed at an incredible discount like last year. I did manage to buy (using store coupons, of course) 3 long-sleeved T-shirts, a black sweater top and a small purse while Lynn found a few items as well. I guess I should be happy. At least my already over-flowing closet won't be burdened with more "stuff" I really don't need.

It's A Wrap!

Yeah...I'm done! All the gifts for Rick's family are wrapped and labeled and are now sitting in front of our hearth in boxes ready to be transported tomorrow. I even managed to wrap the big flat-screen TV (for Rick's mom) all by myself and bought a huge red bow for it. Now I can take a deep breath and relax.

Later this afternoon, I'll get myself showered and dressed and then we'll go to church for the Children's Christmas mass. When Rick and I were younger, we'd go to Midnight mass but those days are long gone. Now we go to church for the 5:00PM service and then it's home for a simple dinner followed by our annual Christmas tradition of watching the 1984 George C. Scott version of "A Christmas Carol." Then it's off to bed.

Since I'm sure tomorrow will be a very full day for all, I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very joyous and merry Christmas. I hope you and your families have a wonderful holiday filled with love and laughter.

Smile For the Camera

Yesterday I took Mom for our pre-Christmas haircuts and then out for lunch. We've been going to our "new" hairdresser since September and I am so happy to have finally found someone who cuts hair really well. I booked this appointment four weeks ago to make sure Mom and I would look extra special for the big day on Tuesday when we celebrate Christmas with Rick's family.

Anyway, our haircuts look really nice and I made sure that we gave a holiday gift to our hairdresser to express our appreciation. This haircut is particularly important because I just got a letter from our Dept. of Motor Vehicles reminding me that my driver's license is expiring on my birthday in February and I need to renew it ASAP. For the past few renewals, I've been able to do it by mail but now they want me to come in and have a vision test, a thumb print taken and a new photo. Yikes!

Now I'm not worried about the vision test since I just got myself a new pair of glasses and the thumb print is no big deal. But the photo is another story. I actually love my "current" license photo since it was taken 15 years ago and I look so much younger. Now I'm going to have a new one and I'm not a happy camper! At least my hair will look good and maybe I'll just apply tons of makeup before going into the DMV. Oh well...I guess it could be worse. At least I don't have to take the written or driving tests again. Now that would be scary!

I've Got the Jingle Bell Blues

Wonder where I've been? Me too. I've been hiding out, so to speak, for nearly a week and I'm not too sure why. I think maybe I've caught a really bad case of the holiday blues. One week ago, I was humming "Jingle Bells," dashing through the store aisles excitedly looking for the perfect gifts, listening to the all-Christmas-music radio station, happy as a lark. Now suddenly I can't seem to face the whole holiday concept.

I'm thinking that, as we fast approach Christmas, I'm suddenly realizing that all the joy and merriment of the holiday season will be gone suddenly next Wednesday. It's always such a build-up to the wonderment of Christmas and then it's over in a flash. Yes...I know...I should be taking it all in and enjoying it while it's here. But, for some reason, I'm already looking ahead past December 25th. I can't explain it...it is what it is.

Of course, this may all be a result of the guest bedroom which is filled with bags and bags of holiday gifts. Maybe the thought of me crouched over all these gifts until the wee hours of the next few mornings, with Christmas wrapping paper, gift bags, ribbon, tape and gift tags by my side, is just too much to bear. Shopping is the fun part of the Christmas season for me...wrapping gifts is not. Who knows...