What a year it has been. Everyone I know is ready to say goodbye to 2009 and I hope for better things for everyone in 2010, most especially new jobs for everyone that I know (and all those that I don't know) who lost jobs as a result of the economy . I've been very fortunate to have secure jobs for most of my working life and count my blessings that I have a stable job that I enjoy.
2009 did bring us some great things, and I don't want to forget them among all of the bad news that this year will be remembered for:
- we visited the Big Apple for the first time in the spring (during the swine flu scare). I fell in love with the city, though I don't think I could ever live there.
- we found and moved into our dream house. house hunting was new to me, and quite an adventure! house selling was even tougher, and I don't wish to repeat the experience anytime soon. We're all settled in, decorating is a work in progress, and we have LOVED having so many people over to the house, including several overnight guests.
- we welcomed 2 members to our family: our niece was born in July and Kevin's cousin married his beautiful bride Julie in October.
We're spending New Year's Eve at a friend's house, and want to wish everyone a happy and prosperous 2010!! Be safe tonight and see you next year :)
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Galveston
Kevin and I came to Galveston for a couple of days to have some R&R. Its been a while since we had a vacation, the summer was spent selling the house and getting ready to move.
We are staying at the historic Tremont House on the Strand, a great location since we can leave the car parked and walk around the Strand. We walked in and out of most of the stores yesterday, and enjoyed a wine bar - called "Bacchus". Many of the stores have signs saying how high the water got during Hurricane Ike - way over my head in all the buildings I've seen! - and we've been sad to see how many shops and businesses didn't reopen after Ike. Several stores have posters showing the damage they had, they've come a long way and knowing how far they've come (and how far the city has to go) makes me very happy we decided to come here to give them our business and spend our money.
Today we went to the Lone Star Flight museum, and toured the Moody Mansion - what a gorgeous house! and the furnishings are all from the Moody family. There is so much history in that house, amazing to know it withstood the 1900 hurricane. Each of these places also had a lot of damage from Ike and another place we tried to see (railroad museum) is being rebuilt in 2010. It will take quite a while for Galveston to be back to where they were pre-Ike.
Today was rainy and cold, great weather to go get hot chocolate at the Nestle cafe *yum*
We are staying at the historic Tremont House on the Strand, a great location since we can leave the car parked and walk around the Strand. We walked in and out of most of the stores yesterday, and enjoyed a wine bar - called "Bacchus". Many of the stores have signs saying how high the water got during Hurricane Ike - way over my head in all the buildings I've seen! - and we've been sad to see how many shops and businesses didn't reopen after Ike. Several stores have posters showing the damage they had, they've come a long way and knowing how far they've come (and how far the city has to go) makes me very happy we decided to come here to give them our business and spend our money.
Today we went to the Lone Star Flight museum, and toured the Moody Mansion - what a gorgeous house! and the furnishings are all from the Moody family. There is so much history in that house, amazing to know it withstood the 1900 hurricane. Each of these places also had a lot of damage from Ike and another place we tried to see (railroad museum) is being rebuilt in 2010. It will take quite a while for Galveston to be back to where they were pre-Ike.
Today was rainy and cold, great weather to go get hot chocolate at the Nestle cafe *yum*
Christmas
We had a great Christmas, including celebrations with both sides of the family. I love seeing our nephew open his gifts - the Transformers were a big hit, though it did take Kevin and me both working on it to figure out how to transform it back to a vehicle (how is a 4 year old supposed to do it?). We received many wonderful gifts from our families - my favorites: a spice rack for our pantry door (complete with installation by my father-in-law), and a fireplace set from my parents. - With the work we've done and gifts we've received the house decoration is really getting complete! We finally have a place to put up a set of clocks we got 2 years ago, it really fills in the wall above the stair landing.
We were able to spend time with a lot of great people over the holidays - I had a girlie movie night (Julie & Julia) right before Christmas, and we were able to spend time with Kevin's grandmother and husband, and had another movie night with my sister, brother and his wife after Christmas. We love having people over to the new house and hope to have more gatherings in 2010!
On Christmas Eve, we had a scare with Smokey. He had a seizure, first one in all the time we've had him. It was scary, mostly because I wasn't sure what was happening and we love our crazy little dog. He came out of it really quickly and has been back to his normal self ever since. We talked to the emergency vet that night and followed up with our usual vet once they opened up after the holiday. We had a quiet night that night and have kept an eye on him ever since. According to both vets, he may not have another one for months or years, or maybe never.
We were able to spend time with a lot of great people over the holidays - I had a girlie movie night (Julie & Julia) right before Christmas, and we were able to spend time with Kevin's grandmother and husband, and had another movie night with my sister, brother and his wife after Christmas. We love having people over to the new house and hope to have more gatherings in 2010!
On Christmas Eve, we had a scare with Smokey. He had a seizure, first one in all the time we've had him. It was scary, mostly because I wasn't sure what was happening and we love our crazy little dog. He came out of it really quickly and has been back to his normal self ever since. We talked to the emergency vet that night and followed up with our usual vet once they opened up after the holiday. We had a quiet night that night and have kept an eye on him ever since. According to both vets, he may not have another one for months or years, or maybe never.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
See ya next year!
I am ready for Christmas! I wrapped the last of our gifts last night - it is an 'IOU' gift since what we ordered for my father-in-law in NOVEMBER hasn't come in yet (grumble, grumble), but it should be here before the end of the week, and he'll have something to open when we do Christmas with Kevin's family tonight. His grandmother and her hubby (and dogs) drove in yesterday, so we'll get to see the whole family tonight. I love this time of year - the decorations (we drove around the neighborhood looking at lights over the weekend), the music, seeing family - and am looking forward to some relaxation (and no alarm clocks!) the rest of this week and next. We'll celebrate with Kevin's family tonight, with my family on Christmas day, and Kevin and I will have a short vacation to Galveston next week.
Today is my last day to work for the year! WOOHOO! I've moved all of my outstanding to-dos to after the holiday - it says due next month but it is really due next year (next decade if you really want to scare yourself about how time flies). It is a ghost town here at work, which has made it possible for me to get a lot done, but also problematic to get hold of anyone who I need to get answers from. Luckily all the 'gotta get done' is already done.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Santa tracking has come a long way since I was a kid. I remember watching the weather as a kid to see the red blip that was Rudolph's nose. Now NORAD will track him, complete with Facebook and twitter updates...
Today is my last day to work for the year! WOOHOO! I've moved all of my outstanding to-dos to after the holiday - it says due next month but it is really due next year (next decade if you really want to scare yourself about how time flies). It is a ghost town here at work, which has made it possible for me to get a lot done, but also problematic to get hold of anyone who I need to get answers from. Luckily all the 'gotta get done' is already done.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Santa tracking has come a long way since I was a kid. I remember watching the weather as a kid to see the red blip that was Rudolph's nose. Now NORAD will track him, complete with Facebook and twitter updates...
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Christmas decorations
We took some photos of our Christmas decorations. I love how festive it makes the house look. I'm sure we'll add more decorations each year. There are also some photos of the petting zoo that our neighborhood had as part of the Winter festival - with BABY DEER!
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