2008 resolutions reviewed

Since I am thinking about my goals for 2009, I thought it would be interesting to look back and see how I did on last year's resolutions. Here are the resolutions from 2008.

1. Check into refinancing our house at a fixed interest rate.
I talked to our mortgage broker about this and amazingly enough, it would increase our house payment to refinance because of the closing costs. How annoying is that?! So we are 2.5 years into a fixed rate 5 year ARM. So far so good. Let's hope the housing market turns around in 2.5 years when we try to sell our house.

2. Do genetic testing before starting a family.
Reading this was like getting kicked in the chest. I did the genetic testing in the summer because we were thinking about starting a family this year. The results were not what we had hoped for. There is a genetic disease in my family and the odds were 1/16 that I would be a carrier for it. Lucky me. I am a carrier for hemophilia. And I can't take the chance that we will have a child with a horrible disease. The cost of the medication is unbelievable and some insurance companies won't pay for it. So, we will have to do in vitro fertilization with pre-implantation genetic diagnosis. Financially, we just aren't ready for this yet. We will have to wait a few more years before having a family. For the last six months, every time someone asks when we will have babies, it has been like having the breath knocked out of me. I just reply, "Oh, a few more years for us" and try to keep a smile on my face. On the outside, we are a fun loving couple who loves to travel. On the inside, we hurt and we hope and we pray for healthy children in the future.

I try to keep the blog light and fun and have been reluctant to blog about this because it was so personal. Maybe it's good to just be honest sometimes.

3. Start planning for retirement.
Well, thank goodness we didn't buy stocks! We did not save enough to open a Roth IRA, but were able to put a little money away last year.

4. Pay off those farking credit cards!
Resolution accomplished... until Christmas shopping exploded all over our credit cards.

5. This is a fun one.... travel more!
Even though we weren't able to take the trip to Europe we hoped for in the fall, we did a good amount of trips within the U.S. We went to some great places last year and enjoyed seeing different cities. We did Savannah, Charleston, Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, New Orleans, Nashville, Chicago, Louisville, Wisconsin Dells, Madison, and a couple of day trips to Atlanta. Not bad for 2008.

So how about you? Did my blog buddies accomplish their resolutions for 2008?

Resolutions

I will lose 10 pounds this year.... right after I finish eating all of the Christmas cookies, chocolates, and donuts that are EVERYWHERE around me!!!

Can we say... temptation?!

Christmas summary

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! My parents came to visit this year for Christmas because my husband had to work yesterday and I had to work Christmas eve. I don't have much vacation time at work so I was very thankful that they were willing to make the drive to Alabama so we could have more time together. They left this morning.

The non-traditional Christmas dinner was a hit. We all ate entirely too much BBQ. Mom made a pumpkin roll for desert that was delicious. There was chocolate cake and carbohydrate filled goodness for every meal since Wednesday. Ohhh... the calories. I am returning to normal eating habits today along with making plans for several trips to the gym this week.

We went to Atlanta on Friday to see the Tutankhamun exhibit. It was awesome. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who has the chance to go.

We also found a great place to eat near the Civic Center... Willy's Mexican restaurant. It was like a Moe's or Q-doba, casual, affordable, and good food.

My mom is in love with Anderson Cooper, so we had to find the CNN building. She was really excited about this, which cracked me up. We didn't see Anderson, but she was okay with getting to hang out in his city for the day.

We drove around downtown and saw the Olympic Park which was decorated for Christmas and looked very nice.

Now... I am working on my 2009 resolutions.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas dinner menu & "A Charlie Brown Christmas"

My parents will arrive tomorrow evening and then the Christmas feasting will begin! We are doing a non-traditional Christmas meal this year. I love all the holiday food, but I don't think any of us have recovered from Thanksgiving quite yet.

The Christmas Eve menu:
pot roast with carrots and potatoes
croissant rolls
chocolate pie

Christmas day menu: BBQ ordered from the Alabama Grill Billies!
brisket
pulled pork
macaroni salad
potato salad
baked beans
mom's chocolate chip cookies for dessert

What is on your Christmas menu?

My husband and I watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas" a couple of nights ago and I had forgotten what a good movie it is. As a kid my favorite part was when Snoopy decorates his dog house.

As an adult, my favorite part is when Linus reads this from the book of Luke:
"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not: for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.'"

Merry Christmas everyone!

I've been tagged!

Jules at Chic & Pink tagged me today to share some details about myself.

First of all, here are the deets:
1. Link to the person that tagged you
2. Post the rules on your blog
3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs
5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

So here are 6 random facts about me:
1. I love wrapping gifts.
2. I wash my hands before driving. (Yes, I think I have OCD).
3. My grandmother had an 8th grade education and she was one of the smartest people I've ever known.
4. My credit card has exploded during Christmas.
5. I call my car the Mazdarati. Not Maserati, but MAZDA rati. It rocks.
6. I just finished reading "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls and thought it was excellent.

You asked me random, you got it! :-)

I tag:
everyone! Leave me some randomness about yourself in the comments :-)

King Tut & Atlanta restaurants

I'm really excited because the hubby and I are taking my parents to Atlanta to see the King Tut exhibit after Christmas. I love Egyptian history (nerd) and have heard that the L.A. and Dallas exhibits were really cool, so we will be checking out the ATL for a day.

(picture from http://www.kingtut.org/home)

The exhibit is at the Atlanta Civic Center and we want to wander around Atlanta since my parents have never been there. Does anyone know of some good casual places to eat near the Civic Center?

Christmas cards...

... have been mailed. 53 of them to be exact. Most of them got a "dreaded Christmas letter" folded inside the Christmas card as well.

What is your opinion on Christmas letters? Love them? Hate them? Super cheesy? Annoying?

Personally, I like getting Christmas letters because it's fun to know what the friends and family have been up to during the year. My husband has complete apathy about Christmas letters. He glances at them for a nanosecond and then tosses them onto the "Tasha will sort through this" pile on the kitchen counter. I'm not complaining about his lack of interest in details, I'm only stating a fact. He is much more of a "big picture" sort of person than I am. We balance each other because of these personality traits, so it works out well for us. I am his filter. He is my compass. I think we would make an awesome team on the Amazing Race.

Back to the Christmas letter.... My theory is that (in general) boys dislike Christmas letters because they contain superfluous information. Guys want the basic facts and they ignore the extra details. Girls LOVE details. We love knowing everything there is to know about a situation. We love talking, reading, and listening. Guys want facts, sports scores, and occasionally some toilet related humor.

Thoughts?

Feel free to make fun of Christmas letters. ;-)

iPhone madness

I still have not finished Christmas shopping for my husband. I am a horrible wife. Everyone else has all their gifts under the tree except for him.

I bought him a few little things but no "big gift" yet. He thought he wanted an iPhone until we looked at them. I understand how my parents felt when they got their first VCR... (completely overwhelmed and terrified by technology). The iPhone can sing songs, navigate while traveling, and probably land the space shuttle... but we could not figure out how to make it be a phone. Sad. I know. So... scratch that idea.

I want to get him something really cool but I just don't know what to buy for the guy who would be totally content with a new book to read and a movie to watch. It's nice that he is so easy to please, but it's also hard to come up with that perfect gift.

I am a flirt!

I made two crock pots full of chili for the Big XII game and had a lot left over. My husband and I have eaten chili for every evening meal since Saturday, so we decided to go out last night. I just couldn't eat another bowl of chili.

We were at Logan's for their Wednesday "2 can dine for $12.99" special enjoying buttery rolls and salty peanuts. (Yes, I realize how unhealthy this is). After I managed to get butter in my hair (classy), I was goofing around making sexy Zoolander faces at my husband. I made a face and winked dramatically at him, when I notice the bus boy behind him is watching me and laughing. He winks back.

Oh... the shame.

I start laughing until I could barely breathe. When I was finally able to control myself, I told my husband what had just happened and he started laughing too.

Luckily we had just paid the bill so we could leave after that.

Christmas wreath

I made a wreath. This is from the night when I combined the hot glue gun and a bottle of wine. It looks... surprisingly... like a wreath. Not bad to be the result of that combination! ;-)

Does anyone else make Christmas decorations? Am I the only one who has failed to outgrow middle school art class projects?

Christmas shopping time!

My husband and I officially started our Christmas shopping yesterday. We went to three different malls, bought things for almost everyone on our list, and had our credit card smoking at the end of the day. The only problem is that my husband still won't tell me what he wants. I have a few more weekends to come up with a fun Christmas gift for him.

Have you finished your Christmas shopping this year?

Happy Friday to all!

I survived hosting book club last night. They didn't throw me out for my smut-filled book selection! Yay! The discussion was quite interesting even though most of the girls hated the book. "Away" would have probably been much better if the author would've left out the smut. The food turned out yummy, the oven did not catch fire, and wine was tasty. What more could I ask for?

I received such a nice compliment last night. One of the girls said that our house always feels so good and that she loves coming to it. What a sweet thing to say! I have always wanted a welcoming and warm home where people feel comfortable and content. The abundance of Christmas decorations probably helped too.

On another topic, our cable company who I hate (Charter Communications) was screwing us out of $130/month for our cable and internet so I cancelled it in a fit of anger the other day. We added the sports package for football season and the promo offer ran out, so it was costing an extra $30/month just to have ESPN! Ridiculous!

We have gone into withdrawls from no internet or cable at home, but the house is clean, my husband is studying a lot, and the laundry is completely caught up. I wonder how productive we would be if we didn't have cable?

But... DirectTV is coming tomorrow!!! HD all the way baby! And a DVR!!! And free showtime for a year!!! And free HBO/Starz/Encore for 3 months!!!

Let the vegetating in front of the TV begin again!!!

A happy Friday to all!

BOOMER SOONER!!!! Beat Mizzou!

Personal day

I am hosting book club tonight at my house. The house needed a thorough cleaning before the girls come over, so I took off work this morning to finish cleaning. I started cleaning two days ago but our two 70 lb Dobermans that stay inside manage to instantly cancel whatever cleaning I have done. Have I mentioned just how much I hate dog hair today?!?

The place where I work gives us 3 personal days per year. I'm a horrible liar so I couldn't use 1/2 a day of sick leave because I'm not sick. Plus we have a meeting today that I need to attend and there are things I have to do not not lose a week's worth of work in the lab. So.... you would think that a "personal day" is just that. Personal. No explanation needed, right? Wrong. When I called my boss to tell her that I was taking 1/2 a personal day today, of course she asked if everything was okay (which was nice of her) and then wanted to know what was going on.

I wish I could be a better liar sometimes. So I had to tell her that I had to clean and cook for book club tonight. Why, oh why didn't I just say that it was "personal"? I am a moron! I could tell this was not a good reason to miss work in her opinion, so now I am at work living in fear of the mountain of work that I will be assigned in retaliation for my taking a 1/2 personal day.

Meanwhile, I chose the most embarrassing book ever for book club. Everyone else has chosen nice, fun, historical, or informative books. I selected "Away" by Amy Bloom. Has anyone read this book? I thought it would be a nice historical fiction book about a mother's quest to be reunited with her daughter. Well...it is.... but it also has gay sex, three ways, and an affair with the father of one of the woman's boyfriends! Oh. My. Gosh. I. Am. So. Embarrassed!!!!

I'm hoping not to be thrown out of book club after tonight!

Creep Me Out!

I refuse to pay for parking. It's $50/month to park in an unpatrolled hidden parking lot behind my building. The designated parking lot is also tucked behind 2 more buildings which makes it nearly invisible from the street. Why does it seem like they always put universities in the worst neighborhoods? Anyway, I feel safer parking on the street where I have a good view of everyone around me when I leave work to walk to my car. Not to mention that I save $50/month.

So... this morning as I am getting out of my car, this disheveled looking man walks toward me. I am shutting my car door and had just put my giant purse on my arm as he approaches.

The first thing he asks me is if I am the police.
Umm.... no. Here I am in my jeans and casual shoes heading to work at the lab. Do I look like the police? No.

Then I start walking and he starts walking and telling me about applying for the police program but he could not get in because his urine wasn't clean.
I think.... umm... okay... I really don't need to hear about some homeless guy's urine. I tell him good luck and I hope he makes it into the program next time. I mean, what do you say to that?

Then he starts following me and telling me he's headed to the salvation army this morning. He never asked me for money. Not that I had any. I never carry cash.

I am starting to freak out a little bit because I don't see anyone on the street. I am halfway between my car and my building and there is no one around except for me and the police wanna-be who has a drug problem and is going to the salvation army... So I tell him bye and good luck, cross the street away from him, and go into a random office building. This building just happens to have a guard in it who asks me if she can help me. I told her there was a creepy guy who kept following me and talking to me and I wanted to give him time to walk a few blocks away from me. She said that I was welcome to wait there and asked if I wanted to call the police. I said no... he was just a homeless man and he did nothing confrontational at all. But better safe than sorry. She agreed.

So, now I feel like a complete jerk. This guy never asked me for money. He never did anything except talk to me about some random things. But there was something about him that made me uncomfortable. He knows what I drive. He knows where I park. And it gets dark at 5:00 now. I feel completely paranoid and silly, but I'm still going to move my car closer to my building at lunch time. Am I completely irrational or just being cautious?

Thankful

Thanksgiving was wonderful. After driving a total of 24 hours in the last 5 days, my husband and I were able to see my parents, his mom and step dad, my uncle, one of my best friends since kindergarten, her husband, her baby, her family, my other uncle and aunt, my cousin & her husband, and my 2 second cousins (one of them is new and this was my first chance to see him). Phew.... that's a lot of family!

It was so nice to be back in my hometown. I miss it. It's funny because when I was in high school I could not wait to leave. Now I can't wait to go back. I'm not saying I would want to live there, but it's home to me. I love seeing my parents. I love waking up in my old room and hearing my mom in the kitchen. I love hearing my mom and dad talk over their ridiculously weak coffee in the mornings knowing that they are trying to be quiet and not wake my husband and me. I love the way the house smells... like a combination of clean laundry and homemade food.

Leaving my parents is so hard every time we visit. Getting those last big bear hugs and seeing the sadness in their eyes makes my heart hurt. I try to be silly so they will smile. Seeing them wave goodbye from the driveway always breaks my heart. Even though leaving them is sad, I feel so blessed to have both my parents and have a great relationship with them. I realize how lucky I am and how rare this blessing is.

On a lighter note: I have not been hungry since last Wednesday.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!