Oh wait…you’ve been here for a few days already?  Where has the time gone??

Another year has come and gone. I think 2010 was a pretty good year. We were busy, but not unduly so. The kids have grown taller, they are reading better and learning more. I got quite a bit of sewing done, the basement got finished and Brian continues to attempt to stock the wine cellar…but occasionally we lose ground on that. 😉

We had a nice time off together at the end of the year with lots of sleeping in, hunkering down and relaxing.  We didn’t do too much, and that is just the way we like to end out our year.

I did my menu planning for the next few months, so that was definitely helpful.  I haven’t done my weekly menu plans for awhile and it just adds extra stress when I get home from work.  In the summer it isn’t so bad – just grill some fish and veggies – but in the winter I definitely need to be prepared.

I managed to make it through the holidays without gaining weight – actually I lost a few pounds that had added on earlier in December.  I didn’t work out from pretty much Thanksgiving until Christmas and I could definitely tell.  My back hurt a lot more than usual and I just felt out of sorts.  I am managing to get back into my exercise routine now.  It is harder when it is busier at work (i.e. I work later), and I can’t work out right away when I get home.  It is worth it to not be in so much pain, though.

I don’t have much for goals or resolutions this year.  I was discussing the concept of resolutions with Brian the other night and he didn’t see the point of picking an arbitrary time to resolve to do something life changing.  If your head is in the right place you will make the necessary changes.  If not, you will invariably fail. 

Very true.

However…having some goals in mind for the future is usually a good thing.  Whether you do them at the beginning of a new year, or just on some random Thursday, it is good to have something to set you on a path to bettering yourself and your life in some way.  Mine is more of a TO DO list.

So here’s my random Thursday-close-to-the-beginning-of-the-year-to-do-list:

• Be better about taking pictures of my kids and our family as a whole this year.  Seriously.  I have been really lacking in that department lately.  I rarely pick up the camera on the weekends anymore.  And my kids actually get EXCITED when I take their pictures now.  I need to take advantage of this while it lasts!
• Keep trying to be healthy and working out.  I want to be less “squishy” this year.  Losing a few more pounds would be kinda nice, too.  That would require taking out chocolate and/or vino, though, and I don’t see that happening.   I’d like to see those random fat deposits disappear, too.  I’m not sure my legs can lose any more weight, but the stomach and upper hips have plenty to spare.  What’s up with that??
• Be more organized and less procrastinating.  I have been a real lousy housekeeper this past year, and have paid bills late, been bad about getting back to people and been bad about scheduling those wonderful annual appoints for myself (more like bi-annual at this point).  Get on that Girl.
• Try not to feel the need to make every piece of clothing my kids wear.  It’s a sickness.
• Maybe actually go on a vacation this year.  That would be nice.  We might need to do new windows on the house, though.  That will definitely break the bank. *sigh*
• Get together with friends more.  We enjoy entertaining, and we have lots of friends.  Combining those two would be just great.  We rather like to sit down with and have enjoyable evenings of talking and wine and good food.  More of that this year.  I guess since we have 4 dinners with friends/family planned for the remainder of the month, we are on track for that.
• Go on a date with the hubby every once in a while.  We actually went to three concerts last year, which was HUGE for us (Nickelback Dark Horse Tour, Sting, and Shinedown’s acoustic show).  More of that would be good.
• Be better at blogging about the kids.  This is pretty much where I get all the scrapbook/photobook details, so I actually need to write down the happenings to have them for later.  I am working on the 2009 photobook right now.  I really don’t have much in the blog for 2010, so I expect it will be much smaller than the 2009 book.  That book is going to be frakkin’ HUGE.

That’s all for now.  I’m sure I will think of more later, seeing as how my memory is shot most of the time these days.  That is getting older and busier for you.  Too much to keep track of and remember.  That’s why writing down your goals is a good thing. 😉

Random picture

This is a gift Brian got from one of his consultants that is from India.  He brought it back with him from his last visit for a Christmas gift for Brian.  How awesome is that?  How awesome is the woodworking for this artwork of the last supper??  It is all inlaid wood pieces with some painting over the top for the faces and accents. 

Very cool.

We put it in the basement, since it pretty much is the only place with some empty wall space.  Now I just need to find a cool looking cross to put underneath it.