ok, first official day of 2012 and i promise to try to blog more often. we have had a nice relaxing holiday break. didn't go anywhere this year and the weather on Christmas day was downright balmy. our town has had NO SNOW yet this year. kind of a strange Christmas, for sure. anyway...the decorations are coming down today so i guess that means it's all over. here are some highlights:

*we have new power cords, user manuals and technology coming out of our ears over here. besides feeling like we are all spoiled rotten, i need a new organizational system and charging station of some sort. between phones, kindles, ipads, cameras, remote control toys and computers, we don't have enough room on the counter to keep it all charging.

*i have already had to talk to the itunes service department, let's see who else gets a phone call from the techno-dorks this week.

*on a final technology note, the husband bought me a new laptop to replace this old 2004 dinosaur. the IT guy could not believe i had a system this old that was still operating. he transfers my hard drive tomorrow onto the new system so i hopefully won't lose all my important files and email addresses, etc. i am not dumb enough to think it will be seamless and i'm geared up to spending at least a day with smoke coming out of my ears.

*while i have not been able to break out skis of any kind yet this winter, we have been able to skate out back a few times. Christmas day was perfect...sunny and ice skating with family, followed by an outdoor football game and uncle rick's smoked brisket.

*to keep up with the rest of the world and their fitness resolutions, i am hoping to eat less carbs and a lot less sugar. he he. even writing it makes me laugh. what do people eat when they don't eat carbs and sugar?

*i should probably take another crack at that nasty mt. dew habit while i'm at it.

*suddenly 2012 doesn't sound so fun. forget i said that.

*on a serious note, each member of our family wrote down a "mantra" for 2012 and hung it in a place where we could see it every day. it was kind of interesting to see what they came up with. little j's is "practice doesn't make perfect. perfect practice makes perfect." big j's was "if it doesn't kill me it makes me better". the husband's is "hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard." and mine is Phillipians 4:13 "i can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." they all sound sort of sports related but hopefully mantras like those work for every aspect of life. i am hoping Phillipians gets me through not only hard runs, long bike rides and tough boot camp classes, but my fear of new situations, worry over things i cannot control and not trying things if i think i may fail.

*a new year's post isn't complete without a comment about the pets. i think this may be our last year with our old girl sidney. we've said it before, but this time i think it will be true. i cannot imagine life without pets, especially ones that become part of the family. there is nothing more loving, more trusting and more loyal than a faithful three-legged black lab. i wish for you all to have someone in your life who loves you as much as sid loves us.

*amen.