oh, hello! my. where do i start? first off, i missed you all--just caught up on you and honestly i'm feeling a little sappy right now. you are all just such special women and i am so glad i can stay connected to you like this.

ok, sappiness over.

where have i been? well. you know that big blizzard that kept bobbi on her couch for seven days? we moved right smack in the middle of it. yep. we don't ever do things the easy way here. you don't even want to hear the details. it was rugged. glad it's over.

we did have a nice christmas. we got some really thoughtful gifts and spent a lot of time stuck in two rooms with 4 dogs and about 25 people...he he. truly. there is something kinda fun about that kind of chaos. for a day or two, anyway. :)

the biggest news: we are in the house. we wanted so badly to stay here christmas eve but decided we better go back to the rental house so the husband wouldn't get stranded for his shift at the hospital on christmas day. i woke up christmas day in an empty house, but we had new toys to play with so it wasn't so bad.

we did stay here at the new house the day after christmas, on mattresses on the floor. now we are officially in beds, with some furniture and even a few decorations. i truly love this house, it feels like home. it always did i guess. it has my husbands' sweat and calloused hard working hands all over it, and even a few of mine. i keep just walking around it and around it with a big grin on my face.

we have also had quite a bit of ice skating and hockey time. i see the guy on the other side of the water plowed out a rink today. we are invited to our first "neighbor" gathering tomorrow night for new years eve. it's an outdoor skating party on the ice behind our house. see? we came to the right place.

otherwise, i am going to start this resolution thing off. 2010 needs to be less about me and more about others, serving more and wanting less. i know those two things will bring me more joy and happiness than the reverse.

to wrap this up, i have a funny "only me" story. so i got my husband's oldest sister's name for christmas, the self-professed "queen bee." she's great, but i do try to be on my best behavior around her. anyway. she wanted a gift card, but i thought that was kinda boring. so i decided to get her a movie to go with it since she loves to watch them. i'm looking and i see this movie i have heard a lot about. people say it's a great movie to watch with a spouse, and the cover looked like a cool action drama thing.

so christmas night, my niece says "who got FIREPROOF for Christmas?"

i say, "oh, i got that for you aunt."

she looks at me quizzically and says "why? are they having trouble?"

i was like "what are you talking about?"

she starts laughing and says "Fireproof is part of this program to help get troubled marriages back on track. There's this whole step-by-step plan that goes with it."

i have never laughed so hard. i got my oldest sister-in-law a program for troubled marriages for christmas? only me. only me.

happy new years. what's your resolution?

i am a list maker. i make lists and i live for marking things off them. problem is, lately my brain has been making lists in the middle of the night. long ones. so when i wake up, i am already crabby because my to-do list is the size of my leg. i have a work list, a house list, a christmas list, a moving list, a chore list, a grocery list, a kid/school list...it's truly ridiculous.

anyway, it's almost time to call it a night. tonite i tried something new. i just finished making my list for tomorrow so my brain won't have to work on it at 3:07 am. we'll see if this trickery works. can my brain outsmart my brain? he he.

maybe i should just try cher and karen's wine trick instead. can you guys make me a list of the the good ones? :)

i have the annual "J boy Christmas quote letter" written and printed out. which is a miracle in itself. making is one thing, but mailing is another. this year is going to be even more challenging. i looked everywhere but either my address book (the one I've had since 8th grade)is packed away or it got lost in the move. i hope i find it, there are some funny memories in that thing.

anyway. for now, i have no addresses. so i guess this is a long-winded way of saying if you want a letter, help me out. Thanks! :)

Ok, here you go. They aren't the best pics in the world. I warned you! But, you get a little picture. Next time I want to do a tribute to the husband who is literally working his butt off. After rocking the entire front of the house and some of the back of the house, laying tile in the kitchen and dining room, the laundry room, two bathrooms, one regular shower, one walk-in shower and laying a wood floor AND working at the hospital AND coaching hockey three nights a week...he is below 200 pounds since the first time since high school. How's that for a diet plan?
He he...

yesterday, i finally got to give my new house a hug. honestly, that's what it felt like. it has been full of sawdust and sheet rock dust and mortar mud and grout and muddy footprints and tools and workmen for so long it was starting to hurt me to walk in there. it never made sense to really clean it because some other project was going to blow dust all over everything anyway.

but we get carpet on monday (!) so i took that as a green light to give my house a hug. i swept and vacuumed and wiped and scrubbed, and am pretty much in awe of the beautiful woodwork. i didn't clean super dooper good because we still have some muddy prints and workmen to go through.

so it wasn't really a FULL hug. more like a really nice sidehug. and you all know how i feel about sidehugs...:)

poor kids. with no other available choices, i had to be the one to teach my oldest son how to wrap a gift. from the looks of the crumply, wrinkled results, he's a quick learner. i really tried hard to cut straight and tape nicely and make crisp corners, but you know. we both pretty much wanted to get it over with.

in a splurge of holiday spirit, i also made peppermint bark with my youngest. the recipe called for a block (how many squares is a block, anyway? the whole thing?) of white chocolate and a bunch of (like 12) crushed candy canes, all dumped on the stove until it melted and then dumped on some wax paper to freeze. easy peasy, and you've all made it beautifully yeah yeah yeah. so why is it yellow instead of white? i've never really seen yellow peppermint bark. i haven't tasted it yet but i'm pretty sure it won't taste like peppermint bark.

he he. yes ladies. this is it. my first installment of the annual "very imperfect Christmas" series.

stay tuned for more imperfection.

wow. things are coming together. the house now has: doors, trim, cabinets, counter tops, lights, closet shelves, wood flooring, tile, sinks, toilets...

we will definitely be in by Christmas boys and girls.

HALLELUJAH:)