Happy Holidays!

Talk about an exhausting couple of days. I'm officially wiped out. We spent Christmas Eve with Josh's dad and that part of the family. It was a south of the border theme with some non-traditional fare and present opening (of course). All in all, a very nice evening. Christmas morning Josh and I got up and did our stockings and gave the kitties their presents and opened presents from my family - and then I made gingerbread pancakes with lemon sauce. We had a few hours to relax before it was time for Josh's mom and that side of the family to arrive - 15 people in total and when you have that many people you can pretty much bet on a little chaos in a house of that size. Still, we managed to fit everyone in the basement in front of the fire to open presents. We took about 168 photos over two days, so I'm obviously not going to post them all, but here is a link to a seperate site... mostly family opening gifts. I have to work on Sunday evening, but I do believe Josh and I are going to watch some of our new movies tonight and tomorrow and just crash on the beanbag chair in front of another fire. I also plan on playing with my new toys - Josh gave me legos! A huge box of them! Yay! So, while I do that Josh will probably play some Fable II (my gift) and we're going to check out Mario Galaxy for the Wii (from my mom). I also have a new 500GB harddrive to fill! :)

Here's the link: http://madamesecretary.googlepages.com/christmas2008

The company Christmas party was on Saturday night so we dressed up, which was fun and a rarity. :p The party was at a local golf club and overall it was very nice, the food wasn't bad, the dessert was super yummy! The company really put a lot of money into it actually... free bar and everything, plus gift cards ($100!) and fleece logo jackets for everyone - guests included. We decided it was time to leave as soon as the DJ played the Chicken Dance, which had been preceded by an interesting selection of songs, most of which was pre-90s.

Now... as for the gingerbread castle... it turns out it was a tad bit too ambitious for a first time experiment when you are pressed for time. Things started going wrong when it became apparent that the little hand mixer was not going to cut it. I have now decided to save for a nice big cuisinart that will mix anything. Try mixing 9 cups of flour and molasses and etc. and you'll know what I mean. To make matters worse it turns out my large cookie sheet (which fits in most regular ovens) does not fit in our 70's Brady Bunch style oven. After two hours in the kitchen and one disaster after another I managed to bake the dragon and the knight and the lady, but then called it quits. We have yet to decorate them, but I think a bit more planning next time would be better and a much smaller project to start out with.

Brr!

Well, we finally got snowed on more than just an inch. It was bound to happen eventually. Thankfully, we have the snowblower, which is going to be a tremendous help this winter. It's so cold here... staying in the 20's or lower. Apparently this next week we are supposed to stay in the single digits mostly. Brrrr. I need to pick up more awesome de-icer stuff for the cars. It's fantastic when you have that super thick ice build-up on your windshield and don't have half an hour to warm up your car and wait for it to defrost.

Hmm... it really doesn't look like much in the picture does it? :p ha ha.

The Time Traveler's Wife

I think this is the second time this year that I've read this book and it's just as good. I'll try not to give too much away in my description either. Henry DeTamble is a time-traveler. He doesn't use a machine, but it's actually a genetic disease, which I thought was kind of a nice twist. Often brought about by stress and without warning he will suddenly and instantly vanish and travel backward or forward in time, often running into himself and people he knows. It is also in this manner that he meets Clare Abshire as a young girl. Through her youth he time travels to a meadow near her home and Clare learns that this is the man she will one day marry. It's really a very romantic book, but not in a super mushy sort of way. There is heartbreak and passion and if you're anything like me, you'll cry when you read it. There were moments where my heart just broke for Clare and Henry. I recommend a nice lighthearted read after, but even several days after I finished, it's fresh in my mind, and I think that Audrey Niffenegger has a very good future as a writer.

Thanksgiving went better than expected, all things considered. We also officially have finished all of our Christmas shopping, so now to pay off bills! :p Josh and I decorated stockings for each other the other night and we'll probably be shipping off presents soon since they are overflowing around our little tree. It's so much fun shopping for presents and wrapping them up. I'll probably get some catnip filled toys for the cats, though, those will be a last minute gift or else they'll just get ripped open early. :p Yes, I know, it's probably extremely silly to include your cats in Christmas morning, but they'll both have so much fun playing in the discarded wrapping paper and boxes.

In other events I have been offered a permanent place at my current temp job, which really couldn't come at a more perfect time. I'm going to be making about 25 cents more than I was making at my job that I left in Durango after four years. Not bad. Combined with my second job I should be able to pay off a lot of bills and put some money into savings, which will be so helpful. I'm getting used to the second job, it's only around 12-15 hours a week, which I don't know if that's going to be enough or not, but to begin with, that's okay. I've got to ease into working the extra hours.

The Secret Life Of Bees

I joined a book club recently and the first book of choice was 'The Secret Life of Bees' by Sue Monk Kid. We had our first meeting last Thursday, and I enjoyed it. I felt awkward at first, as always when meeting with a group of strangers, but I think by the next meeting I'll find it easier to join in. As for the book itself, it was good. It takes place in the 60s and is about several women, one of whom is a young white girl Lily who ends up breaking the woman who looks after her Rosaleen out of jail, who happens to be black and the two of them run away to the small town of Tiburon, led there by a picture that Lily's mother (who is deceased) left behind. It ends up being a label for a honey jar - Black Madonna Honey and ultimately leads the two to the women who are behind the honey. It's a very heart-felt book and you feel a bond with the group of women you're introduced to. They all have various troubles and problems and somehow they get through it. It's a pretty inspiring book about overcoming obstacles and seeing things from different perspectives. You'll laugh and you might even cry a little - I did and you might even come to have a little bit of respect for the tiny creatures the book is named for. Generally I don't care for bees, but I definitely feel a bit differently about them now.

I'm afraid I haven't been very good with keeping in touch with family and friends lately. You should never be too busy for either of those, but time seems to be flying by faster than I can keep up with it and now with the second job that I got, I'm going to have even less time to get things done that I need to let alone have much free time. That being said, we're hosting a game night this Saturday and then the following Saturday we'll be hosting Thanksgiving. Thankfully I'm not in charge of all of the cooking - phew - that's a relief considering I've never even cooked a turkey. I shall be making pies galore, though, and I've convinced Josh to build a gingerbread house with me this year and we want to do something big and slightly ridiculous, which is probably a bit ambitious when you take into account we've never even made a simple kit gingerbread house before. :p

It's that time of year...

Yes, we have officially started decorating for Christmas. We picked up a little tree today, wrapped more presents, hung up some lights. It's magical. :p




The weather has been overcast and chilly and we've gotten a little bit of snow, but nothing that has really stuck. As for other things, I got my hair done yesterday and love how a simple thing like a haircut can make you feel like a completely new person.

Official First Post

As we approach the 6 month mark, I am hopeful that our lives are going to get back on track. They (whoever they are) say the first year after a big move is often the hardest, but I'm going to hope that our hardest months are behind us. It's been hard finding permanent jobs in a highly competetive market and it can be pretty disheartening sending out your resume left and right and going on interviews only to find out you're one of a hundred candidates and the chances are slim. I'm still working on mastering my interview technique (you'd think I've had enough practice by now) and hope after a lot of preparation this weekend I can ace my interview on Monday.

Oh, and welcome to my blog! :)