I can't believe that I have not blogged since 12/21- what is that 2-3 weeks! Yikes! Well, we had really great holidays with friends & family. The first holiday weekend (Christmas) started with a great dinner out in S.F. with 3 of my friends from 1st grade to celebrate Diana's birthday - she always gets ripped off in the celebration department with her birthday being so close to Christmas. We had a really great visit & dinner. Daniela was here from Italy- so it was great to see her & her husband. After dinner we went to the Fairmont Hotel to have an after dinner drink and it was great to see all the festive decorations. The hotel had an amazing gingerbread house in the lobby & a very grand tree!.
Christmas Eve started with a great 4 mile walk by myself before teaching Body Pump- my effort to fight preemptively the calories to be consumed. Picked up mom and we prepared for Christmas dinner. Fortunately, I had already prepped a great deal Friday night after coming home from dinner in SF. We had our "celebration" with the McClymond Family that afternoon - the kids LOVED their gifts. Brynn was very excited to receive my "hand me down" camera, even though it wasn't technically a Christmas gift, I think it was her favorite. Nolan went crazy over his remote Monster truck & Brooklyn adored her new "baby" - she also enjoyed rearranging the snowmen on our stairs! I went to church and then we had dinner at Steve's house- the traditional Spaghetti dinner- YUM!
It was great to finally see all of the improvements he's made on his house- it's so amazing and I hope and pray each day that he gets some serious offers soon. The bankruptcy courts have been very accommodating thus far and there have been a lot of interested parties visiting during Open House, but I think many want to see the finished product. It's looking really nice though- I'm really proud of all that he's done to the place. Hoping that 2012 is a darn GREAT year for the Harper Family, specifically the "male" part of the family- he desperately needs a break. I really don't know how much more he can take. I also pray that some new health developments don't cause problems.
After dinner, we took mom to see the lights at Eucalyptus Ave. and I think she enjoyed seeing them. We then came home and had our Bailey's Coffees, watched "White Christmas" and exchanged our gifts. Mom loved her gifts- the expected ones and the surprise ones. Bill surprised me with a super techie camera with lenses, etc. What a fun gift and I'm enjoying it thoroughly! Bill's best and biggest gift was backordered, but it came a few days after the holiday and he loves his new Tablet! He loved all his other gifts too- some great TB shirts, 49er hat that he has not stopped wearing. Finally to bed and then up early on Christmas Day to get cooking! We had our visit with the Barron family and the girls loved their Barbie Camper! I love seeing the happy faces! Then my family came over and we did our gift exchanges...I was pretty excited to see everyone open the special gifts. I think we were all pleased with our treasures. :) The family left around 10pm and I think I finally melted into bed around 1am after sorting through all my pictures off my new camera! Day after was an early day for me to teach 7am Body Pump, but I relaxed the rest of the day. Janet & her kids came over that afternoon and we did our gift exchange.
Mom stayed with us until Wednesday- but we really didn't do much except for lounging and I worked a little bit. Got my office all set up and cleaned out and ready for 2012. We watched movies on netflix, took naps and just enjoyed the down time. Bill was off work- which rarely happens that we are both "off" and home. It was nice. We took mom home with a few stops along the way to SF and once she was settled headed to the Saddle rack for our 1st of 3 nights dancing in a row. We had 3 great nights of dancing to start ringing in the new year! Thursday we had our last "Christmas get together" with the Semkes...had a wonderful brunch with great friends. Gabriel is such an adorable little boy and so fun to watch. Jocelyn & Dan are such great parents! So proud of them!
New Years Eve was spent at Janet & Scott's, they decided to have a party and it was a BLAST!! We stayed there until almost 130am, which for NYE is almost unheard of for us. Great time ringing in the new year with my best friend from college and her honey. Lots of dancing too!
The Holidays & Weight Watchers....well not as successful as I might have wanted, but I enjoyed, I ate, I drank and I worked out- A LOT!! I have not lost weight, but I have not gained either. New year, new goals and still more weight to lose- but I have learned to accept the slow & steady. I had my physical with my Dr. and she was pleased with my weight loss, called me "fit" and took all the routine blood work and everything came back normal. She did say that my ovaries are contemplating "retirement" based on one test- my level was 41 and anything over 40 suggests peri-menopause. No big surprise here, pretty much expected that answer.
The new year has kicked off well. I have helped my nephew submit his college applications to 7 colleges & universities, so now we wait to hear from them and see where he may end up. I am seriously proud of him and am having fun learning more about him through his essays and opinions. He's definitely my nephew when he answers his favorite food as "Mac N cheese"- LOL. I can't believe that I have a nephew old enough to go to college. But I am excited to use my new camera at his graduation in June!
I feel as though I have so much more to write--but am seriously all over the place in my thoughts right now, so I think it may be wise to hit the hay and resume writing another day with a focus on a topic.
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