Good-bye 2009

As we kiss 2009 good-bye I can't help but be surprised by the amount of people I am close to who have said that 2009 was their worst year ever. I found alot to be thankful for. For one, I left my first post-college job and was able to go back to school, there were no hurricane evacuations this summer and nothing came close to us at all. I consider this a huge blessing after losing the roof over my head (literally) to Rita in 2005 and my home almost floating away during Ike in 2008. My grandpa had a heart attack and lived through it and that was the only family health scare of 2009.

I've noticed that a lot of bloggers have 2oo9 in pictures so I sat down and realized I don't have hardly any. Then I thought about it and some of my proudest moments can't be captured in a picture. There were no pictures in the courtroom the moment when a child got returned to their parents, when the handcuffs clicked on a child molester or when the Grand Jury indicted. There wasn't a camera there when after 20 minutes of being too scared to look, I finally checked my Praxis score and found out I passed. I had some tough moments wondering how everything was going to get paid for and how I was gonna make it and the lack of pictures shows I just stayed busy and pulled through.

I skipped the bonfire and most likely won't leave the house tonight. I'm tired from the drive from Houston and honestly, I'm just thankful to be back home in my own bed. Maybe I've just gotten too old or maybe just for once this year, I wanna sit down and be with my thoughts and take a break from the ringing phones and the running around. Maybe I just wanna sit in my pjs with the dogs, relax, go to bed and wake up to a new year and another fresh start.

Test Post

I wanted to test out blogpress on the iPhone too see how it works. I also added a pic of the big dogs and so far so good. Still in Houston relaxing and hoping the weather lets up so I can shop a little tomorrow before I head home. I don't really have big plans for NYE. We're heading to a small party and possibly a bonfire.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Teaching

I have one regret about my schooling and it's that I didn't take Spanish. In Louisiana, we are taught French in elementary school so when I got to middle and high school, it was easier to continue with French rather than start Spanish. I understand teaching French and French Immersion to preserve our culture but Spanish is much more practical in the real world. I've been looking at a few school districts here in Texas just for fun and the majority of the open positions are ESL. I know that there is the perfect teaching position out there for me but now is the time to start worrying and wondering. I don't think I could ever leave my hometown but I still haven't ruled it out. I know I need to let go and let God or I'll drive myself absolutely insane until April.

Houston

We made it safely to Houston without incident except for me forgetting my coat and having to head back. Luckily, it was before I hit the interstate. I had a salad from Panera for dinner and of course made latte on the Tassimo. I need to get one ASAP.

Tomorrow I'm taking my Christmas ring into the jeweler to be re-sized. My right ring finger was either broken or jammed badly at some point in my childhood (I'm thinking softball or my brief stint in basketball) and my knuckle is freakin huge. The bad part is, once rings get past the knuckle there is a big size difference and they tend to slide around alot. At least I don't have to worry about losing a ring since my knuckle area is so chunky.

I think it's funny that I escape to Houston to relax when things are much more fast paced here than at home. I really do love my smallish town but can't argue with the better shopping and more places to eat that Houston has to offer. The traffic doesn't terrify me anymore, I can remember being 16 or 17 and driving over here for the 1st time in my Celica and I was scared to death.

The rest of my night is going to consist of sitting in front of the tv and staying warm.

Christmas Recap

Christmas was great. I got a beautiful ring and of course my leopard Snuggie and other goodies. I'm trying to get everything ready to head to Houston in the morning. It's a huge process just trying to get 3 dogs ready to go much less everything that I need to bring. I'm coming home Thursday and have to take the tree down over the weekend as well. That is probably the most annoying thing about Christmas. It seems like every year I have trouble getting everything back in the boxes it came in. Hopefully I'll get to do some shopping in Houston and take a little break before school starts on January 19th.

Merry Christmas

Notice they are both clean. The festivities started a little late and ended at 11 or so and the last load is now in the dishwasher and I'm getting ready to watch A Christmas Story then head to bed. Hosting is hard work. I have the big family lunch tomorrow then I will be officially spent. Merry Christmas to all in blogland.

Salute

This post is dedicated to the "Holiday Host Rookie". I myself fall into that category as this is the 2nd year I'm hosting Christmas Eve dinner. In the South especially, this is a big deal, a coming of age. You want to live up to your great-grandmother, grandmother and mother's skills and it's hard. The Eve of the Eve for a rookie usually consists of running around like a chicken with its head cut off looking for last minute must haves followed by being up half the night making sure every inch of the house is spotless. Rookies often will drive all over town to find that perfect Christmas dip bowl or food item. This year my enemy was fresh bruschetta, could not find it anywhere.

Here's to you if you're new to hosting Christmas dinner, if you're trying to out-do the neighbor who's house is always spotless or trying to please that critical mother in law, I raise my glass of fresh sweet tea to y'all ladies. When it's finally over and the relatives pull out of the driveway, let's all pour us a glass and take long nap. Oh wait, there's that little problem of cleaning up after the festivities.

Blondie

I'm going to tell a story about a child we'll call "Blondie". Blondie was removed from his parents about a year ago. Blondie is in Special Education and has Bi-Polar Disorder as well as other behavior problems. When Blondie was taken, he used every curse word on a daily basis, hated anyone who wasn't white, couldn't be in crowds, and kicked and screamed. He's 8 now and had spent a lot of time in a mental institution when was 5-6.

Fast forward to now, Blondie is doing well in school and has been mainstreamed into 2 classes (art and gym). He follows the rules and has a list of "good words" to use when he gets angry. He no longer has outbursts at school and has been given certificates for good behavior. He's now back with his mom and I couldn't ask for anything better for him. Merry Christmas to all the Blondies out there.

Christmas Dishes

Still on the hunt for Christmas dinnerware. Might have to wait til after Christmas. Ugh

Confessions

I need to stay away from the Christmas ornaments. I re-arranged the tree again tonight. I'm a little OCD when it comes to some stuff, this is the reason that I wait until the last minute to write papers or prepare speeches. I just keep messing with stuff trying to attain that impossible perfection when all I really do is mess things up more. This time, I'm not touching it again until I take it down.

Thank you Lord for Christmas break. I needed it so bad. The holidays always fly by though so before I know it, I'll be back in school busting tail again.

The Christmas Tree

Excuse the terrible sideways angle iPhone pic. I guess I'm going to have to add a new camera to my Christmas list this year. The very top of the tree needs to be taken care of sometime this week. I got some pretty gold fleur de lis ornaments at Hobby Lobby a few years ago and I need to go back to see if they still have them. I heart me some Hobby Lobby. I redecorated the guest bathroom with stuff from their and it turned out really cute. I got fleur de lis towels racks and drawer pulls from there too. You can't tell from the pic, but I have some pretty glass ice cycles that my aunt gave me along with some gold and white angels and silver bows. I want to get a smaller tree or 2 for next year to put around the house and do a different theme for each one. I absolutely love decorating for Christmas.

Confessions

Since my schedule is so messed up, I often get bursts of energy at 1 am. This happened last night when I was washing clothes and realized I was running out of hangers. I then went to tackle my messy closet and started purging stuff I don't wear. Let's face it people, if it doesn't fit now, it's most likely not gonna fit next year and if it does, you're not gonna wear it. Once I get started with a mission like this, I can't stop. So all of the clothes and towels were washed and folded, the floors were mopped and the dishes done. I was in bed by 3:30 or so.

Now to the confessions part. My closet is disgusting. I've said this before but it's really bad. I found shirts and stuff just shoved on the top shelf. My shoes are everywhere and I can't really find anything. My cleaning a lot of time consists of shoving all the stuff somewhere I can't see it.

Christmas Stress

I just got in from church and lunch with the bff and now I'm watching the Saints. My mom and I are going to see Messiah at 3.

I'm having Christmas Eve dinner at my house and I've been obsessing about making everything perfect. My grandma, mom and aunt are experts at hosting anything so I've got some big shoes to fill. I got the napkins and plates for the desserts already (from Dollar Tree, score!) and I need to get some tablecloths and figure out what kind of setup I'm going to do with desserts and food.

After all of that worrying, I looked at the tree and realized it needs some more ornaments or something so I'm gonna work on that this evening after I study for my last final.

Snow Report

So the snow at work sucked. We made a few snowballs with what stuck to the cars but I think the ground was too wet I guess for it to stick? There was definitely more snow at home though because it's still stuck to the cars and roofs. A good bit of it blew on my back porch but nothing really worthy of taking pics of. Houston got more than we did for sure but I'm just thankful that I was able to drive home from work safely. We were so dead. I left around 10:30 or so only because I stayed late because I had some people that just wouldn't leave.

Furkid Friday

There are 2 doggies ready for the snow. The advisory goes from 3pm-3am today. I have to leave for work at 4:15 which is in 30 minutes. Right now it's raining like crazy. It's been snowing off and on in Houston all day. People up North probably don't understand the hysteria and the fact that the news tells us not to drive if there's even a possibility of snow but here in Louisiana we're spoiled. The cold weather literally makes me cry. When it does snow, we act like complete fools and 2 inches is a big deal. The public schools closed at 1 pm and the University canceled finals this evening so the poor students that didn't study get a second chance. If and when the snow comes, I've got my iPhone handy for lots of pics.

Not so nieghborly

Darn you Bed Bath and Beyond for sending me not one, not two, but THREE coupons in the mail today. I do not need to be spending anymore money! I also am not very neighborly today because I saw 2 guys outside measuring the concrete pad next door at an empty lot and I glared at them. I don't want anymore neighbors! I think that if they come back I'll tell them that it floods here all the time and the cows in the field have a tendency to escape and attack.

After tonight's final, I have one more left. It's almost over.

Who Dat?

So excited about the Saints doing so well this season. For as long as I can remember, they've been a joke and now it's 11-0. Crazy. I didn't work the game but I stayed home and watched it.

I have one last project to do at the lab tomorrow (I hate Promethean right now!) and 2 finals to take before this semester is over. The finals are pretty easy, nothing is comprehensive so that's always a plus.