It's My Last...

...Day at work for the year!

Historically, this is good day for me...
I get some small projects done that have been just hanging out for awhile.
I clean up my desk and get rid of a lot of nagging paperwork that has hounded me for awhile.
I enjoy chit chatting with co-workers and prepping my "To Do List" for January 2.

This year, on the other hand...
I am fighting with a system that doesn't want to work (or if we can get it to work, it goes at a snail's pace).
I am being yelled at by multiple crowds of people because they have a deadline in said system.
I have a pile of large projects that just sit there taunting me.
I am leaving my desk in a mess.
I have no idea what fire I will be putting out on January 2.

Yes, today (as well as yesterday) is not turning out to be that great of a day.
However...Tomorrow will be a wonderful day!!! The first day of my holiday break!

Namaste.

On the look-out...

...For good cardio songs!

I have a small mp3 player that I need to put about 45 minutes worth of music on it.
My plan to get "pumped up" for some serious elyptical time!

Any suggestions?

Namaste.

It's Almost Christmas!

I spent some major time at the mall tonight!
I now remember why I always try to get my shopping done in the early part of December!!!
I will say that Kohl's has some seriously good sales going on right now...

The amazing news is that I have all of the presents bought that I need for December 25th.
A few more still need to be made, but let's not talk about that right now!
I have a few more to get for the January 6th get-togethers, but am in good shape there as well.

Now, I just need to put in some serious wrapping time!

Namaste.

Traditions...

I have a tradition. . .

I spend a day baking and baking and baking until I am so sick of baking that I don't do it for about 365 days. I bake as many cookies as I can (all but one batch is from scratch) and give them out as gifts to many of my neighbors, friends and coworkers.

Today was the big day!

I was at the grocery store at 8am this morning to get my baking supplies.
I was at the grocery store at 10am returning some items that I already had, getting some items that I had forgotten and purchasing a new mixer as mine decided to start smoking on the first batch of cookies and pretty much bit the dust on the second batch!

I am also trying to find ways to speed up the process as my cooking turnover has also been decreased by half. Some dear friends of mine bought me this great thing that sits in a cookie sheet and prevents the cookies from sticking. It's an awesome invention!

A few months ago, SB's fundraiser had a similar item - so I grabbed it. I own two cookie sheets, so having two inserts would be great!

Wrong! The new insert that I found is now in the trash with about 2 dozen cookies that were baked on it. So, I am back to one insert and longer periods of no cookies baking in the oven. :(

I think it is time to change this tradition or improve on it as I have a feeling I will not be able to wait another 365 days to bake again.

Namaste.

OMG!!!

It hit me when my boss said "See you on January 2" as he left the office today (we both still have days to work this month, but none where we will both be here together):

2007 is almost over!

I started to look back on the year and couldn't believe how much my life as changed this year:

• My Divorce: I started the year loosing one of my body parts - the gall bladder.
• My Marriage: I entered into a relationship where I am attached to something 24/7 - my braces. Stay tuned for another divorce in the VERY near future!
• My Mane: February found me with a redesigned head of hair - I now have an excuse for "my blond moments" - blond highlights!
• My Weight: I lost a large portion of weight in the beginning of the year and reached my 21% body fat goal. Since then, I have allowed just a bit to return. . .Nothing that I am concerned about!
• My Friends: I was able to reconnect with some high school friends through the summer. It has been a blast to catch up with them - especially Thumbs!!! :)
• My Love Life: I am truly blessed to have found MBB (or did he find me???). I can't believe that it has only been four months. . .It feels like we've been together way longer than that.

Did I forget something major???
Feel free to leave a comment if you remember something that I don't!

Namaste.

• 13 days until Christmas
• ~28 days until metal free
• 57 days until four-eyed free

Just Can't Do It...

There is another weight loss competition begining at work this week...
And I just can't bring myself to join!

There are a few reasons for this:
> I missed out on Christmas goodies last year because of my pending divorce from my gall bladder and I wanna be able to enjoy some this year - in moderation, of course! :)
> I don't really have enough weight to loose...the competition is to lose 10% in 12 weeks. I think I have about 8% to get rid of now.

So instead of losing, I am going to focus on maintaining through the holidays and start working on the reduction in January.

Namaste.

A treasure of mine. . .

I love spending time with my nieces and nephews.
I get to see two of my nieces fairly often as the both live in Cincinnati, but three of my nephews are a pretty far piece north and I don't get to see them near as often as I would like.

As a result, I TRY to get my oldest nephews for some one-on-one time each year.
It doesn't always happen with schedules, but it sure is nice when it does.

This past weekend belonged to C-Boy:
> Some shopping was done.
> Some great soup was consumed.
> Some billiard tips were shared.
> Some risks were taken.
> Some approval was given.
> Some feet were wet and frozen.
> Some score was displayed in a good way.

I was blessed with the family that I have.
I treasure these one-on-one times and will miss them as the kids grow older and move on to other activities.

Namaste.

Timing...

On Saturday, MBB and I were on our way to a Christmas party dinner.
About half of a mile from our destination, we had an issue with my Matrix and my strong man had to change a flat tire in dress clothes.

I was not happy Monday morning when I spent my half day vacation at Tire Discounters buying four new tires. Side note: I'd really like to understand why Toyota puts such an expensive size tire on the Matrix's!!!

Speed ahead to Wednesday morning - Cincinnati got our first snow fall. North of Cincinnati got hit harder than Northern Kentucky and for that I am majorly thankful! You see, I drove a very curvy, hilly road to get to work Wednesday morning - and yes, I was a bit concerned by the roller-coaster characteristics of the road combined with snow falling from the sky and temperatures hovering right at freezing. The good news - I didn't have any issues and it only took me 15 minutes longer to get to work than it normally does.

I passed four accidents on the highway and heard many stories of difficulties.
What is everyone talking about? The roads aren't THAT bad!

Ohhhh, wait a minute!
I'm not having as many problems as some of these people because. . .
I HAVE FOUR BRAND NEW TIRES!!!

Gotta love how timing just works out sometimes...

Namaste.

Fine Line...

I like to make things! I don't think that statement will surprise anyone.
I enjoy the unique. . .No one else has the exact same item, unless I gave it to them!

Right now, I am making Christmas Stockings for SB and OB.
They know exactly what the stockings will look like:

*I'm using the one that Egypt made for me as the pattern.
*They got to pick out their own fabric.

SB's stocking will feature cats in Santa hats with trees and lots of Christmas stuff.
OB's stocking would go great with this blog. . .Yes, OB picked out Bengals material for his stocking!
Overall, I believe that these will be successful creations!

I pride myself in finding gifts that will be liked (yes, I do buy yellow things for others!) and if I am wrong, I have no issue handing over the receipt for a "redo".
But I am walking a fine line when trying to make gifts:

*I am picking out the colors.
*I am choosing the design.
*I cannot hand over a receipt if I didn't go the right route.

So as I am working on gifts for this year, I am throwing up as many prayers as I can that everyone likes what I made (if I even get them all done!).

Namaste.

Gas Tank Doors...

MBB and I were talking the other day about getting gas and why there isn't a standard for what side of the vehicle the the gas doors are on. . .

I did a Google search to see if I could find a reason. . .I did find a few debates on this topic.

Some (such as MBB and myself) feel that the door should be on the driver's side.
It is aggravating to always having to walk around the car to get gas.
Others think it should be on the passenger's side so that the driver doesn't
have "space issues" with hitting their car door on the pump (I don't get this
one. . .just pull forward a little bit more!) or so that the driver doesn't get hit when they have run out of gas on the side of the road and need to fill-up from a can (duh - don't run out of gas!). The only thing that I did find is that the gas tank should be on the opposite side of the muffler.

I found another neat tidbit (No, I haven't researched this, it just sounded neat!):

You can tell what side of the car the gas door opening is by looking at your gas
gauge. Some automakers include an arrow next to the fuel pump icon to tell you which side of the car needs to be next to the gas pump.

Things that make you go "Hmmm..."!

Namaste.