The Holidays are Officially Over

This I know because I took my tree down yesterday and the Aggies lost their bowl game!

I do have a couple of friends coming over last night and I guess we'll stay up until midnight and ring in the new year...and wait for our children to come home who are out ringing in the new year elsewhere...but that's it.

Looking Back and Forward

As the old year ends and the new year begins, we always tend to look back and think of all the things we didn't accomplish and try to set better goals for ourselves next year...I think that's such a negative way of looking at things. This past year has certainly been topsy turvy for me, at many times I thought "what the hell am I up to anyway?" but I've learned a lot and am certainly in different place than I was last year--for better and worse--and that's pretty much been the theme for my entire life. I grow, I shrink, I think, I act rashly, I love, I hate...but no matter what I do I try really really hard to do my best at everything...and honestly that can be a bit overwhelming as I think we humans have a reservoir for stress and mine has flooded so many times....

A few of the highlights and lowlights from 2007:

• I passed my comprehensive exams in June
• I quit my regular day-to-day job and went independent in February
• I fired a client in October, much to the dismay of my financial outlook
• I learned to weave in October
• I passed my preliminary proposal in December
• I went to Europe in May/June
• I've made new friends this year
• I've made big strides to improve my marital relationship
• I've tried really hard to be a good parent to teenagers, though my tongue is raw most days (from biting it), I think I'm doing a fairly good job
• I did not lose the 20 pounds I wanted to
• I did not do a good job of staying away from sweets

Things I definitely want to accomplish in 2008

• Experiment with weaving and try to become good at it
• Pass my proposal
• Lose 20 pounds and keep it off
• Be a good parent to my teenagers and help them get prepared for life on their own
• Be a good wife to my husband and prepare ourselves for a life of our own
• Continue to develop my good friendships
• Go to Europe in May/June

It shipped!

Should be here by Wednesday!

Merry Christmas!

I wish a Merry Christmas to all...I hope you got everything you wished for. I did. It's been a very happy Christmas for all around here.

My presents included:

• 2 needlepoint canvases--Cat Hugger and Sunflower House
• 3 books
• a Tiffany gift card (to buy a heart charm for my collection)
• a journal to write my weaving progress in (should I ever get my loom)
• 3 cross stitch patterns
• and in my stocking 6 different yarns from a "grab bag"...I love them all.

Anniversary Gift

In the big box Mom asked about was...the beautiful red purse I have on my shoulder in the previous entry...and a turquoise heart charm to go with my collection. A very nice "haul" indeed :)

17th Anniversary

David and I celebrated our 17th anniversary on Saturday by going out to dinner and spending a fun evening together.

Just a Quick Update

Things here have been going and going...here are a few high points:

• Today is David's birthday--Happy Birthday David!
• I'm still waiting for my loom!
• Elizabeth got her braces off one month ago. I'm still waiting to get a picture of her for the blog
• I'm buying yarn and doing everything I can to set up my weaving studio...but...
• I'm still waiting for my loom!
• I'm having good responses to my pre-proposal. That means I'll be writing a dissertation proposal in January.
• I'm very happy and comfortable with my half-time employment and graduate student status.
• My 17th Anniversary is Saturday. I cannot wait to open that big box that's been sitting in my room for WEEKS now!
• I'm really enjoying The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett. I like it so much I know I can stop in the middle of a page or chapter and get right back to it because I'll be thinking about it most of the time I'm not reading.
• I have jury duty next week. Not looking forward to it, but it will be a fact of life for the next year.
• We are hosting a Christmas party next weekend. Really looking forward to that. I'm cooking pumpkin pasta--vegetarian--and Christmas pasta, both from Rachel Ray's 365 No Repeats (the best cookbook I've ever owned).
• I'm beginning to seriously plan a trip back to Wimberley for more weaving lessons.
• My loom still hasn't arrived!

On that last point, I'm off to see if I can find a suitable substitute to get me weaving in the down time while waiting on the loom. I have a peg-loom but I wasn't really very happy with it, so I'm going to see if I can find Harrisville's Easy Weaver that has a warp already on it. It's pretty simple but will allow me to work with the yarns I already have and make something more interesting than a 9x11 thing...

More Dreams

I think my recent spate of vivid dreams is probably more because of the fact that I'm finally sleeping without stress...

Last night I dreamed that David was out getting food--all kinds of "bad" food. Jelly Bellies on the counter in a giant 5 pound bag (they really have them, btw, just go to Office Depot!), cakes, cookies, bags of stuff from Chili's. Candy, ice cream...you name it. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to eat it all but I did. I couldn't choose just a little bit of something and knew if I started eating I wouldn't stop until it was all gone. Some of it was gross, too, having sat on the counter for several hours while I slept.

I woke up with the dream unresolved. I always have dreams of guiltily eating "bad for you" food when I'm trying to eat healthily. Sometimes it's so delectable that I can't believe I went this long witout chocolate cake...sometimes I feel so guilty. This time I was over-awed.

Betsy

I name all my angels and since my dear Aunt Betty bought this canvas for me, I've named my Angel Tree in honor of her!

Dreaming

My dreams have been kind of crazy lately. I've been dreaming of my typical dreams--new parts of my house that I didn't know about or use, climbing hills/stairs, being angry or frustrated with the kids. I've even been dreaming of weaving again, which is nice because I worried when I stopped that my infatuation with weaving was just that and after I went and spent a lot of money on a loom and accessories to set up my studio, an infatuation just wouldn't satisfy!

But, I've also been having weird dreams where I'm dreaming that I'm dreaming and talking in my sleep. Imagine this. I'm dreaming that I'm working on a puzzle and I figure it out, I say enthusiastically "Score!" and I wake up thinking that I've just said it outloud. I've had other dreams where I've been talking to David or going places and waking up thinking that I was really doing the talking and not just dreaming the talking. David has assured me that I haven't awakened him with my talking, but that doesn't mean I'm not talking in my sleep (or is it my dreams?) I've even had dreams that I'm talking in my sleep and realizing that I'm doing it and then I'm really embarrassed or worried about what I've said.

It's weird and keeps happening...it's almost as annoying as my losing my teeth dreams--and don't worry, I'm still having those too!

Christmas Tree

Didn't get it...

Didn't get the job. I'm surprised and a little disappointed, but not overly so...

Back to focusing on dissertation writing and waiting for the appropriate job!